Washington County and the Portland Metropolitan area are nationally recognized as one of the most livable areas in the country. located on the western edge of the city of Portland, Washington county is the second largest and fastest growing urban county in Oregon, with approximately 460,000 citizens. the community is Oregon's most ethnically diverse, drawing immigrants from Europe, Central and South America, Asia, Indo-China, the Pacific nations and Africa. the result of that diversity is that residents and institutions alike reflect a global perspective

Washington County is 727 square miles and includes a portion of the City of Portland and eleven incorporated cities including Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard and Tualatin. Focused residential and industrial growth has enabled the county to preserve more than 75% of its agricultural and forest lands through utilization of the nationally acclaimed urban growth boundary.

Washington County residents are the youngest, most affluent, and most highly educated in Oregon. The community enjoys excellent schools, and a uniquely diverse array of cultural and recreational activities. only an hour's drive from the beach and mountains and less than a half-hour to downtown Portland, Washington County enjoys the benefits of a healthy urban and rural environment. 

The county's developed regions are home to traditional suburban and new mixed use neighborhoods, electronics leaders such as intel, ibm and tektronix, and world headquarters for both nike and columbia sportswear. Intel's investment in Washington County exceeds that of any Intel site worldwide. outside the urban growth boundary, the county transitions to nurseries, wineries and other farm and forest enterprises. Washington County ranks first in manufacturing and third in agriculture production in Oregon.

Two decades of explosive population and employment growth have prompted various sectors to focus much of their energy and resources on meeting physical infrastructure needs. new and expanded roads, bridges, rails, schools, churches, high-tech manufacturing facilities, hospitals and other "brick-and-mortar" projects have helped define this increasingly urban community.

washington county amateur radio emergency services/radio amateur civil emergency service  (ares/races) exists for the purpose of providing backup emergency communications to more than 20 served agencies.  those served agencies include washington county, incorporated cities, special service districts (fire districts, utilities, schools, etc.), and hospitals.  other non governmental agencies may also be served upon request, as allowed by available staffing and training. 

washington county ares/races has been very busy over the last several years.  we have increased our training opportunities, demonstrated the use of alternative modes and technologies to support our served agencies, and increased our emergency services participation.  as a result, our served agencies have developed high expectations of our members and the services we provide.  we have also developed high expectation of ourselves.  this has also prompted us to formalize the requirements for our id card program.

we have two different id cards. one is an ares white id card. the other is a races yellow id card. the requirements for the ares card are minimal. the requirements for the races are set to a higher standard. ares operates under the umbrella of the arrl. races operates under fema.

the washington county ares id card is for members that meet the basic requirements set forth by the organization.

the washington county races id card is provided to our members for the purpose of deployment to a served agency.  the id card provides the served agency with proof of ares/races membership and of having passed a washington county sheriff's office computerized background check within the last two years.  the id card is intended to facilitate, but does not guarantee, entrance into a served agency's facility or passage through a traffic control point.  in most cases, a prior relationship with the served agency and passing their security screening is the best strategy for ensuring entry during an emergency.  there are many other requirements that need to be maintained to achieve and retain the races id card.

the standards are designed to build relationships among our ares/races members, familiarize ares/races members with our served agencies, and maintain proficiency with ares/races response procedures. they support the concept that the best time to prepare for an emergency is before it happens. 

for details on the membership requirements and other details on the organization go to www.washcoares.org.

what do amateur radio operators do during and after disasters? 

amateur radio operators set up and operate organized communication networks locally for governmental and emergency officials, as well as non-commercial communication for private citizens affected by the disaster. amateur radio operators are most likely to be active after disasters that damage regular lines of communications due to power outages and destruction of telephone lines. 
 

how do amateur radio operators help local officials? 

many radio amateurs are active as communications volunteers with local public safety organizations. in addition, in some disasters, radio frequencies are not coordinated among relief officials and amateur radio operators step in to coordinate communication when radio towers and other elements in the communications infrastructure are damaged. 
 

what are the major amateur radio emergency organizations? 

amateur radio operators have informal and formal groups to coordinate communication during emergencies. at the local level, hams may participate in local emergency organizations, or organize local "traffic nets" using vhf (very high frequencies) and uhf (ultra high frequencies). at the state level, hams are often involved with state emergency management operations. in addition, hams operate at the national level through the radio amateur civil emergency service (races) which is coordinated through the federal emergency management agency, and through the amateur radio emergency service (ares) which is coordinated through the american radio relay league and its field volunteers. in addition, in areas that are prone to tornadoes and hurricanes many hams are involved in skywarn, operating under the national weather service. 
 

is amateur radio recognized as a resource by national relief organizations? 

many national organizations have formal agreements with the amateur radio emergency service (ares) and other amateur radio groups including: 

department of homeland security -- citizen corps
federal emergency management agency
national communications system
american red cross
salvation army
national weather service
association of public safety communications officials 

sstv
 SSTV is short for 'Slow Scan Television', This unlike domestic television is a method of transmitting still pictures over a very narrow bandwidth, on frequencies normally used for speech by Radio Amateurs.

 

aprs
  APRS is an amateur radio based digital communications system for local, tactical, real-time exchange of information among all members of a net, including map based displays for stiuational awareness. It was developed by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, who currently works at the United States Naval Academy.

APRS is used to transmit real-time information such as messages, bulletins, announcements and the locations of any stations or objects via amateur packet radio protocols. Real-time reporting of station position for mobiles is facilitated using the Global Positioning System. APRS is capable of transmitting a wide variety of data including weather reports, short text messages, radio direction finding bearings, telemetry data, and storm forecasts. These reports can be combined with a computer and mapping software to show the transmitted data superimposed on a variety of map displays. 

digital packet
 

local communication coverage
 
 

state and nation wide communication coverage
 
 
 

amateur radio programs:

skywarn is a volunteer partnership established by the national weather service and advanced by local emergency managers across the nation that utilizes fcc licensed amateur radio operators who take additional severe weather detection training and report severe weather events as they happen and in real time... using established communications links (called "nets") with county emergency operations centers which are in direct contact with weather service meteorologists. this system combined with the new severe weather tracking capabilities of the national weather service has led to much more accurate and timely warnings for the public. 
 

radio amateur civil emergency service (races)

 
founded in 1952, the radio amateur civil emergency service (races) is a public service provided by a reserve (volunteer) communications group within government agencies in times of extraordinary need. during periods of races activation, certified unpaid personnel are called upon to perform many tasks for the government agencies they serve. although the exact nature of each activation will be different, the common thread is communications.

the federal emergency management agency (fema) provides planning guidance and technical assistance for establishing a races organization at the state and local government level. a comprehensive races manual, guidance for radio amateur civil emergency service, is available on the fema web site.
http://www.fema.gov/library/civilpg.shtm

the federal communications commission (fcc) is responsible for the regulation of races operations. races is administrated by a local, county, or state civil defense agency responsible for disaster services. this civil defense agency is typically an emergency services or emergency management organization, sometimes within another agency such as police or fire.

amateur radio emergency service (ares)

this program was developed by the american radio relay league, the largest  consortium of amateur radio operators in the united states.  the a.r.e.s. program provides for a system of providing licensed operators for various safety and emergency functions across the country.  agencies that the a.r.e.s. organizations serve nationally include local emergency management, american red cross, and other groups who need communications resources during a crisis or large public event.
 

community emergency response teams (cert)

amateur radio communications systems: