Founded in 1952, RACES is a public service that provides communications personnel to governmental agencies in times of emergencies and disasters. RACES activities are governed by FCC regulations Part 97, Subpart F and are very specific for nationally declared emergencies. During locally declared emergencies, the RACES operations are administrated by and is the responsibility of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA is tasked with the administration of the RACES organizations due to its role in national disaster planning, preparedness, disaster relief and recovery. In turn, each local RACES group is administrated by a local government agency responsible for disaster services, generally an Emergency Management Office.

RACES groups provide a resource pool of emergency communicators that can be summoned in time of need. When a RACES group is activated, whether locally, by the state or by the federal government, that RACES group will utilize its communications resources to meet the requirements of the requesting agency.

The traditional operations for RACES personnel has been formalized traffic handling on Amateur Radio frequencies. These communications can involve messages between hospitals, emergency services, shelters, EOC's, etc. Other tasks may not involve Amateur Radio communications, such as public-safety operations, governmental communications on governmental frequencies, EOC staffing and perhaps emergency equipment repairs.

Trained RACES operators are ready and prepared to assist in times of need.

Contact Us, for additional information about our program. Copyright © 2000-2007 Branchburg Township RACESThe information contained in this homepage is considered public domain and the Emergency Operations Center encourages interested persons to utilize any portions of it that might enhance their local programs.
Revised: 9/24/2007