Amateur radio operators belonging to ARES (and its predecessor, the Amateur Radio Emergency Corps) have responded to local and regional disasters since the 1930s, including the attacks of September 11, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina. During the Katrina event more than one thousand ARES volunteers assisted in the aftermath and provided communications for the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, and other individuals related to the relief effort. After Katrina Hancock County, Mississippi had lost all contact with the outside world, except through ARES operators who served as 911 dispatchers and message relayers. 

ARES has deployed for a variety of other emergencies and disasters, including the 2003 North America blackout. The blackout covered a wide geographical area of North America. In the United States its scope included Cleveland, Detroit, and New York City. Landline telephones and cell phone systems were overloaded and Amateur's ability to operate off the grid was put to the test. On Long Island in New York many pieces of health and welfare traffic were passed on VHF and HF nets. (Courtesy Wikipedia)

In fact one of the first ham radio emergency contacts was in Columbus!

That’s right! Here’s the man: Herbert Ackerberg.  In 1913 he was 15 living in the Hilltop (Franklinton) just  off Broad Street when the Great Flood hit.  He’s credited with using ham radio for the first time for emergency communications.

Delaware ARES continues the tradition

The Delaware County ARES is very active with well over 50 ham radio volunteers. We are hosted by the Delaware County HS/EMA and we serve EMA, Red Cross, public safety agencies and public service organizations. We have a radio net the first Thursday of every month, and we meet to train on the second Thursday - most often at the county’s Emergency Operations Center. We have trained in many areas to be of assistance:

FEMA damage assessment

Incident Command

Search and Rescue documentation and marking

Flood/inundation communication

Terrorism awareness for public events

Red Cross shelter operations

and the lineup of FEMA study courses

Our group is activated any time the EOC is operational, and we’re part of several emergency protocols for the county.  We also provide free communications for large public events such as triathlons, bicycle events and more.