About TCARES

Monthly meetings are in person at the Thurston County Emergency Management ECC at 9521 Tilley Rd S.  The meeting begins at 19:00 and runs until about 21:00.  We also have a parallel Zoom meeting; 

Meeting ID: 360 515 1263

Passcode: 441400

Join us in person or on Zoom.

What does it mean to be a member of TC ARES®?  First let’s define the term “TC ARES®”

• “TC”, Thurston County, Washington. Location of the State Capital in Olympia, situated at the Southern end of Puget Sound, 60 miles South of Seattle and 110 miles North of Portland Oregon.
  

• “ARES®”, Amateur Radio Emergency Service.
  

  • Amateur, only because we are not compensated for any of our activities, we are professional, highly trained and experienced communicators.
    

  • Radio, we use our own radio equipment and some that is provided by Thurston County.
    

  • Emergency, we provide communications for government agencies and thereby for the community during major disasters when the normal communications infrastructure is compromised.
    

  • Service, something we do because we want to help our community in times when all other communications channels have failed.
    

As a member of this organization, ham radio operators jump into action to serve the community by providing backup communications for the Thurston County Department of Emergency Management, TCDEM. We are branching out to serve other state and local agencies in a similar fashion. We are developing relationships with The Evergreen State College, Washington State Department of Transportation, City of Lacey, City of Olympia, and the Squaxin Tribe.

As a radio operator with TC ARES®, you will receive some very intensive training relating to radio operation, FEMA rules, and NIMS/ICS. Take advantage of as many training opportunities as possible, go beyond the required basic 4 courses, IS-100, IS-200, IS-700 and IS-800. Look for other courses and share what you find. A list of recommended courses:

EC-001, Introduction to Emergency Communications  http://www.arrl.org/online-course-registration

EC-016, Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for Radio Amateurs  http://www.arrl.org/online-course-registration

PR-101, Public Relations 101 for Radio Amateurs  http://www.arrl.org/online-course-registration

Recommended FEMA online courses; https://training.fema.gov/is/crslist.aspx?lang=en&all=true

• IS-120 An Introduction to Exercises
   

• IS-230 Fundamentals of Emergency Management
  

• IS-235 Emergency Planning
  

• IS-240 Leadership and Influence
  

• IS-241 Decision Making and Problem Solving
  

• IS-242 Effective Communication
  

• IS-244 Developing and Managing Volunteers
  

• IS-271 Anticipating Hazardous Weather & Community Risk
  

• IS-288 The Role of Voluntary Organizations in Emergency Management
  

• IS-317 Introduction to Community Emergency Response Team (CERTs)
  

• IS-2200 Basic Emergency Operations Center Functions
  
  

TC ARES® is a team. We work together, helping each other, supporting our served agencies. Team leader is the EC, Emergency Coordinator. The EC can appoint AEC’s, Assistant Emergency Coordinators, to help with any function of the team. We have an AEC-Training and an AEC-OPS.