| The Eastern Mass Amateur Radio Group |
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ECT Communications Team |
The EMARG Communications Team coordinates efforts with and provides communication help to other groups that organize parades, road & trail races, biathlons, triathlons, and any other type of event requiring radio communications and basic First Aid. Not only can we provide non-licensed service hand held radios to event volunteers, organizers, and other support staff, we also provide licensed Amateur Radio operators to extend the range of your communications to enable you to cover significantly more range than unlicensed radio services do. We utilize a fully staffed state of the art, command post trailer to provide interoperable communications. All members of Commonwealth REACT are not only FCC licensed Amateur Radio operators, they are also First-Aid, CPR, AED and ICS trained and certified. All our over the air communications follow strict HIPAA guidelines.
In addition to providing our core expertise in communications, we are also able to provide basic first-aid and CPR under the supervision of one of our own Paramedics or EMT's who serve as our medical lead for each event we are involved with. If arranged in advance, we can also set up a first aid station manned by a first-aid provider. Lastly, we are well positioned to provide advanced communication capabilities to community CERT and EMA organizations, search and rescue teams, and any other municipal group that could benefit from our services.
Most of the events we support are road races, biathlons and triathlons. To maximise our human resources, we provide what we call mobile-SAG (Support and Gear) where we have our members drive along the route with their own marked vehicles equipped with street legal caution lighting. We utilize local area Amateur Radio repeaters to provide information to and from the event coordinators. We are also able to assist event participants who are experiencing problems by providing first-aid or transportation back to the event staging areas. In the event of a serious injury, we are able to notify first responders and stay with the participant until professional help arrives. For smaller events such as trail races, we are able to provide stationary SAG by positioning ourselves along the route and provide communications through Amateur Radio repeaters, and when necessary provide First Aid through coordination with our medial lead. We are not authorized to provide emergency medical transport or any medical services beyond the basic First Aid level, nor direct traffic on public road ways. We can however staff or assist with parking control.
First off, there is no charge for the Amateur Radio communications we provide. Also, we do not charge for municipal or non-profit events. However, we do accept donations for all commercial events for the use of our communications command post, the radios we provide to event organizers and other event volunteers, the use of our privately owned vehicles used to get to and from the event and provide mobile-SAG for the the event, setting up and staffing a First Aid station, and the supplies we use to provide First Aid. We will provide you with a recommended donation amount in advance when we meet with you to work out the logistics of your event. We are a non-profit organization so it may be possible that your donation may be deductable. However, we can't provide any advice to you about this so you should contact your tax professional for advice. We have been told that the cost for our service is less than the cost of renting radios for your event from a commercial vendor. Be aware, there is a $100.00 per unit replacement charge for any loaner radios that are not returned or damaged due to negligence. Unless otherwise arranged, in advance, all donations and radio replacement fees are expected the day of your event.
Send an E-Mail to
eventrequest@commreact.org
Be sure to include the following information: