EMa ARES Responder and ID Policy

Policy Statement Concerning ARES Identification Cards
for use in the ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section

January 14th, 2005

1. Purpose: The Eastern Massachusetts Section (EMa) section leadership publishes this comprehensive policy for the issuance and use of sectional ARES Identification Cards (ID) to ARES appointees of the EMa section.

2. Definition: The EMa ARES ID card is issued to ARES appointees to the offices of Official Emergency Station (OES);
Emergency Coordinator (EC);
District Emergency Coordinator (DEC);
and Sectional Emergency Coordinator (SEC). ARES appointees meet the ARRL membership requirement, and satisfy participation requirements set by the leadership. Other informal arrangements may be made to provide an EMa ARES ID card to Assistant Emergency Coordinator’s (AEC);
or to any ARES member meeting criteria for assignment to Mutual Assistant Teams. The EMa leadership is defined as the SEC and the respective DEC for your district.

The EMa ARES ID card features a picture, expiration date, and is checked against the appointee’s/team member’s government picture ID, and FCC license for validity. No background check is conducted by the ARRL.

This card may be obtained in addition to the ARRL FSD 224 card, which under ARRL policy, may be given by an EC and above to any amateur radio operator (whether an ARRL member or not) interested in emergency communications.

3. Background: In their efforts to prepare for the possibility of activations both on the scale of post-9/11 and smaller recurring natural disasters, EMa ARES members are working to prepare themselves for possible use by public safety or service agencies. One useful tool is the EMa ARES ID card, which may allow quicker access to sites and reduce wait times. However, since ID card acceptance is a very sensitive issue with many of the organizations we assist, a comprehensive policy is required for the use of the EMa ARES ID card by EMa ARES members.

4. Use of EMa ARES ID Cards:

 

a. EMa ARES appointees/team members may only use this EMa ARES ID card to carry out a specific assignment as given to you by the EMa leadership. Do not use this EMa ARES ID card to attempt entry to sites where EMa ARES assistance has not been officially requested. We are not first responders.

 

b. Please be aware that Public Safety and/or Agencies with which the ARRL has a Memorandum of Understanding may require additional identification be issued to you, including the completion of background checks. This ID card cannot waive any of those additional requirements.

 

c. You must always be prepared to present any other government picture identification, as well as your FCC operating license. Please be aware that failure to do so may result in you being turned away from the site.

 

d. If security personnel at a mobilization deny you entry, you must comply immediately and withdraw. Your EMa ARES ID card does not confer any rights or privileges to you.

 

e. The EMa ARES ID card remains the property of the ARRL EMa Section, and must be surrendered upon request by the SM, SEC, or applicable DEC of your district.

 

f. The EMa ARES ID card has an expiration date on it. Please contact your EC/DEC/SEC for renewal before the expiration date, and do not use after it expires.

 

5. EMa ARES ID Card Issuance: EMa ARES ID cards are issued under two programs: normal issuance, and field (emergency) issuance. The normal issuance allows for reasonable preparation and delivery time using digital technology by the authorized EMa ARES leadership. Field issuance is only to be used in the field where EMa ARES ID cards must be issued expeditiously and use analog technology.

 

a. Rules that apply to both programs. Only the EMa SEC and staff DEC’s can issue EMa ARES ID cards. EMa ARES ID cards are to utilize exactly the same format, except that field issuance may use “Polaroid” type pictures. Additionally, the approving EMa officer may fill in the member’s name and appointment information by hand. Appointee’s/Members must present their government picture ID (i.e. Commonwealth driver’s license or Passport);
and the FCC operating license, before their picture is taken. There are NO exceptions to this requirement. Issuers will strive for a consistent “professional” look; to allow easy recognition by site security personnel with previously supplied examples.

 

b. Recognition by Security Personnel. Security personnel will only honor those ID’s that have been approved by their site leadership, so pre-approval is very important. Pre-approval is accomplished by submission of our credentials in response to a formal request for assistance, although this process may be accomplished in very little time. Never send ARES members to a site to attempt entry without prior authorization.

s/ Michael P. Neilsen
Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN
Section Manager
Eastern Massachusetts Section
American Radio Relay League

s/ Robert D. Macedo
Robert D. Macedo, KD1CY
ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts Section
American Radio Relay League