[W1SMH] ARRL - Eastern Mass Section

[Jim Duarte]

Hi Folks,
 
New England area ARES/RACES Amateur Radio Operators went into full 
standby mode late this afternoon as word of the massive power outage 
filtered in. In the Eastern Mass Section, SEC Mike Neilsen - W1MPN 
placed all ARES/RACES Stations on Standby at 17:00 Thursday evening. 
Several RACES/ARES stations checked in and monitored 3.943 Mhz for 
Massachusetts communications. WC1MA, the Mass State EMA Headquarters 
checked in and advised that they were on full alert. The Sturdy Memorial 
Hospital ARC held their normally scheduled ARES Net and were joined by 
Rob Macedo - KD1CY, operating W1AEC, the Southeastern Mass ARC club 
station. Most ARES/RACES Teams had contacted their respective city/town 
EMA Directors, checked into their local repeaters and awaited further 
instructions. As word of the gradual restoration of power was made 
available, most  stations were advised to "stand down" and were thanked 
for their assistance. The response was quick and organized, showing that 
our recent drills and training sessions have proved beneficial. Thanks 
to all the local and regional ARES/RACES personnel that have given of 
their time to train our people in the techniques required to handle 
these situations. Also, thanks to the ARRL for their work with the ARECC 
(Amateur Radio Emergency Communicatons Course) program.

73,

Jim Duarte - N1IV
ARRL Public Information Coordinator
Eastern Mass Section

/My PC is in UTC time.../