Newington, Conn., July 24, 2002 -- Amateur Radio volunteers throughout the United States will receive special training in emergency communication measures, thanks to a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, which received $181,900, was among several dozen nonprofit organizations designated to receive some $10.3 million in federal money to boost homeland defense volunteer programs.
"Ham radio will certainly be part of the fabric of homeland defense and Amateur Radio operators have always been of the mindset that they want to do something for their country," says ARRL president Jim Haynie. "This grant is the opportunity for them to get started on it right away."
During the grant year, approximately 1,700 FCC licensed Amateur Radio operators will have the chance to register for free to take ARRL's online Emergency Communications Level I Course. Several factors will determine if ARRL will receive the requested federal money to expand this national program for two additional years.
In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, certified volunteers will work with community organizations to relay vital information in a structured and accurate manner. They will be skilled at composing and relaying messages by voice and through computer based Amateur Radio communications modes. Trained volunteers will join local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) networks and will support emergency activities ranging from equipment logistics, victim location and identification, emergency shelter, food and water information, medical equipment and materiel distribution, and, sometimes, life-and-death communication.
In June, a separate $33,000 grant from Connecticut based United Technologies Corporation was received that is providing the same training for up to 250 Connecticut Amateur Radio operators. "UTC saw the potential and translated that into action and became our corporate partner to expand Amateur Radio emergency training in Connecticut and beyond," says Mary Hobart, Chief Development Officer for the ARRL .
"For decades, Amateur Radio operators have been there during emergencies. This federal grant is a wonderful validation at the highest level of the decades of work that Amateur Radio operators have been doing in disaster preparedness and disaster management," says Hobart.
Today, there are nearly 700,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide. Information on how to become involved in Amateur Radio is available from the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 or by calling 1-800-32-NEW HAM. The URL for ARRL's home page is www.arrl.org.
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Allen Pitts, W1AGP
Media and Public Relations Manager
(860) 594-0328
apitts@arrl.org