The first of several emails covering how to use the ICS213 form.

This is the standard message form for emergency work throughout the nation.  It is simple to use, and adapts itself to many different protocols.  We will be receiving them by ear over the radio, writing the message down, and relaying it to the next station along to get it to the final destination.  A giant game of Post Office, so accuracy is key!

By the way, if any sites are able to send via WinLink, these forms are part of the standard WinLink Forms package.  But, if 2 meter FM is all you have, they can work.

We will not need to make triplicate copies for our Test.  Let's look at the first part:

Block 1 is the Incident Name.  We are calling this the "ARES 2025 SET."

Block 2 is the Addressee.  Since Wayne, K1CBI is going to be in Agawam we have entered his name and the position he is standing in for.

Block 3 is the Sender.  In this case Hiram is providing communications for the North Adams Shelter.

Block 4 is the Subject.  Here it is simply a Situation Report.

Block 5 is the Date the message was written by the Sender.

Block 6 is the Local Time the message was written by the Sender.

That's it for the header.  No Handling Instructions, no Check of word count.  Simple.

When this message is transmitted to another station for relay, it is written down exactly as shown here.  There is no need to add anything to show where it was received from, receiving operators, transmitting operators, time of reception and transmission... none of that is required.

Next time, we will cover a sample message block, approval, and how to route them.