Are You a Doer?

Jan 5th, 2020 | By Des Moines Radio Amateurs' Association | Category: Alerts

I ask this question with regards to service within the boundaries of Amateur Radio. A quick Google search showed: doer, “a person who acts rather than merely talking or thinking”. I’d like to think that it is the Doers that exemplify Amateur Radio Emergency Service. These are the folks that give up their time, usually on a weekend to help make the events that ARES supports safer and more efficient. The New Year is upon us and we again have the opportunity to show what Doers look like. Here in Polk County we will have several events to demonstrate to our community what Amateur Radio is and why we are useful. These events help us to prepare for disaster service when needed.

The floods of 1993 were a great example. Jim Snapp, NAØR was helicoptered into the Des Moines Water Works with a portable radio set-up to monitor water levels with-in the Water Works compound. An ARES Emergency net was established. I found it quite useful and I observed three young men slowly walking near my flooded place of employment. It appeared they were scouting out the area. I made a quick call on 146.940 with my HT, within 2 minutes a Polk County Sheriff’s deputy was taking a Field Information Report, thus letting these folks know they were on radar.

Where is this all going?

Well it’s time to consider signing up for the 2020 schedule of Polk County ARES activities. Sign up is simple, just go to the DMRAA web page under the ARES page https://dmraa.com/ares and sign up for as many events that you can help with. If you are new to ARES events, let us know and we’ll place you with a seasoned operator.

By the way, our first quarterly ARES meeting is January 13^th, 2020 at Polk County Emergency Management, 19^th and Carpenter in Des Moines at 7:00 PM You can learn more at this meeting.