How it works... At the state level in New Hampshire, ARES and RACES are really the same. NH Homeland Security & Emergency Management (NH HSEM) does not maintain a standing RACES program, and uses NH-ARES to meet its backup communication needs. In the event that circumstances require operation under RACES rules, the plan is to mass-enroll as many NH-ARES operators as are needed and volunteer at that time. The reason for this approach is that under state law, the state must provide Worker's Compensation Insurance coverage for all official volunteers. While this was enacted to cover mountain search and rescue volunteers, it includes all volunteers, regardless of role or agency. NH HSEM has no budget for this at present. Local municipal emergency management agencies may choose to enroll local hams to be their RACES operators. In this case, we strongly recommend that these volunteers be drawn from the local ARES organization and that dual-membership be maintained. This will help protect against any divisiveness between ARES and EMA-RACES and ensure full interoperability.

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Last Modified: 12/12/2009 18:23:10