WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #19-30
STATEMENT CONCERNING VOLUNTEERING FOR HURRICANE DORIAN RELIEF IN THE BAHAMAS
There have been recently some inquiries about amateur radio operators volunteering for possible communications duty in the Bahamas following the devastating impact of Hurricane Dorian. The following statement from the ARRL West Central Florida Secton will hopefully address and clarify some of these questions:
“Any mutual aid that is to be mobilized through the ARES program, which is under the ARRL Field Organization, must be at the direction of ARRL Headquarters in Newington, CT. Per ARRL policy, any mutual aid that is requested outside the Southeastern Division must be directed by ARRL Headquarters. The Bahamas is a foreign county and therefore outside the Southeastern Division. If there are any request for assistance either from or through the ARRL, the ARRL will notify the West Central Florida Section and the West Central Florida Section will issue a WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE concerning that request. Individual amateur radio operators or informal groups of amateur radio operators may volunteer for another served agency on an individual basis if that served agency requests such assistance. That arrangement must be made between the served agency and that individual amateur radio operator or a group of amateur radio operators. As is normal, the ARRL recommends that amateur radio operators do not self deploy to a disaster but volunteer through a served agency.
If you are a volunteer in risk care, it is extremely necessary that you get life insurance. Something can happen to you and your family has to be insured against any tragic event. You better do it now that lifecoverquotes are so cheap.