Since September 11th, Amateur Radio operators across America are being asked if they are disaster ready.  According to Indiana ARES director Jim Sellers-K9ZBM, being ready requires more than having a ham radio.   Speaking to a gathering of hams from across central Indiana November 3rd, Sellers challenged all amateurs to assess their readiness to respond.

Sellers issued this check list: 
• Do you have?
• Emergency power at home? 
• Do you have an HT with extra batteries? 
• Are they always charged and ready to go? 
• Does your Emergency Grab Bag have a flashlight, extra batteries, a solar blanket, a notebook, pen and pencils? 
• Do you have food like snacks or MRE’s? 
• How about antenna adapters, a mag mount antenna, battery chargers? 
• Do you have soap, towel, tooth brush, underwear, socks or toilet paper? 
• Don’t forget a bottle of water. 
• How about small tools to fix or install equipment? 

According to Sellers you must be prepared to be self supporting for at least 24-hours. 
Equipping yourself with these basic items and reviewing basic message handling procedures with make you more effective in a disaster. 

Sellers cautioned, when a disaster happens you don’t have time to make a list and check it twice. 

Other disaster readiness tips can be found in the ARRL Operators Manual or on their web page www.arrl.org.
 

by Jack Parker, W8ISH