Gwinnett ARES

Definition and Organization
The Gwinnett Amateur Radio Emergency Service (Gwinnett ARES) is a corps of trained amateur radio operator volunteers organized to assist in public service and emergency communications, and is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League. Located in the Gwinnett County, Georgia which is part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, it is organized as a non-profit corporation.

Affiliated with the Gwinnett County Homeland Security/Emergency Management Agency, which is part of the Gwinnett County Police Department, the Gwinnett ARES is headed by an Emergency Coordinator and is appointed in two year terms by the ARES Section Emergency Coordinator at the state level and is not affiliated with any RACES groups.

Mobile Communications Center

The Gwinnett ARES operates the amateur radio station WX4NET. In addition, they also operate a mobile communications center with a station for use in emergencies or natural disasters. The communications center is also used for public demonstrations such as field day, JOTA and has been noted for assisting with Amateur Radio Kids Day.

Notability in the Community

Gwinnett ARES:
* Develops and maintains the Emergency Service Packet Client software suite. The software includes utilities for Packet radio and NTS Message Handling.
* Participated in a joint Simulated Emergency Test with Gwinnett County Police, EMS, and Department of Homeland Security to successfully relay 911 and other traffic to command centers and mobile Fire and Police vehicles in 2007. "According to Greg Swanson, Gwinnett County Emergency Management Coordinator, the exercise successfully demonstrated the ability of Gwinnett ARES to provide critical backup communications in the event of a failure or impairment of the county's primary radio communications system."
* Provided key communications during a 2005 Simulated Emergency Test involving: Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency, Athens Regional Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Centers for Disease Control, Oconee County RACES, Clarke County Emergency Management Agency, Dekalb County ARES, NE Georgia Public Health EOC, Emory Eastside Medical Center, Gwinnett Sheriff’s Department, Gwinnett County Police Department, and the East Metro Health District simulating a terrorist gas attack on a major football stadium.
* Provided communications for the Jennifer Wilbanks 2005 Runaway bride case into locations not adequately covered by public service systems. For this real-world scenario, Gwinnett ARES employed a portable repeater system, a cross-band repeater and the mobile communications center.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu