Sept 29, 2026 – “What Can Amateur Radio Operators do in Emergencies?”

Good evening. This is W1UT and tonight the training topic will be about “What Can Amateur Radio Operators do in Emergencies?”

This can be a rather involved topic, so I will try to only cover a few of the basics. First of all remember that as amateur radio operators we are volunteers generally not trained to be directly involved in emergencies. Amateur Radio plays a key role in supplementing, rather than supplanting, existing communications especially if other government resources need help or are overwhelmed.

So let’s first define what constitutes an emergency. An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some situations, mitigation may not be possible and agencies may only be able to offer palliative care for the aftermath. In other words make the patient comfortable.

Emergencies threatening life primarily do not usually involve amateur radio operators. We do not provide medical assistance unless trained to do so. However, there are times when communications can be provided in remote areas by a local radio operator. This has happened before using the Intermountain Intertie system down in southern Utah several years ago. Many areas in the canyon lands have no reliable cell phone service. A man in a campground had a heart issue requiring transport to a hospital. A ham operator happened to be in the same campground and was able to get assistance using the intertie system. The man was saved.

Natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and wildfires also pose significant, widespread threats to human life.

During an emergency, Amateur Radio can be used only if the following three qualifications are met: (a) there must be an immediate threat to life and/or property; (b) there must be no other means of communication available; and (c) Amateur Radio must not be used on a routine basis.

Normally amateur radio operators can provide critical communications “support” during a wide range of emergencies that threaten life and property, particularly when conventional communication infrastructure fails. These situations include natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, earthquakes, and wildfires, etc. Local jurisdictions will usually ask for help if the disaster is wide spread and requires additional communications support. This is where CERT, ARES or RACES members who have been trained would be contacted. If you would like to help, get training from one of these organizations and make yourself known to the county and local police organizations … and make sure you have backup power, charged handhelds and possibly a go box.