ARRL Simulated Emergency Test on the Horizon: Start Planning Now

ARRL’s Simulated Emergency Test (SET) is October 4-5, 2025. This nationwide exercise is the chance to test your personal emergency operating skills and the readiness of your communications equipment and accessories in a simulated emergency-like deployment. ARRL Field Organization leaders at the Section and local levels, and many other volunteers who are active in public service and emergency communications, are developing emergency-like scenarios in consultation with a variety of agencies and organizations for whom radio amateurs are known to provide service during emergencies.

ARES, National Traffic System (NTS), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), SKYWARN, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN), other allied groups, and public-service oriented radio amateurs are among those who are eligible to participate in the exercise and to practice emergency operation plans, nets and procedures. For this year’s test, there will be bonus points for cooperation with Army MARS stations and sharing information between MARS and amateur radio stations.

Establishing Relationships

The ARRL has longstanding formal relationships with several national entities including the American Red Cross, the National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Salvation Army (among several others). Read more information on these agencies. Let this year’s ARRL Simulated Emergency Test be a chance to reach out to these partners to establish or review plans and develop working relationships.

Appoint a Safety Officer as Part of ARES Team

One of the often over looked aspects of ARES groups and responses is safety. See the ARRL Safety Officer Checklist [PDF]. But running a checklist alone is inadequate. Having been involved with safety professionally in the United States Air Force and in the offshore oil industry, I have experienced what good safety discipline can accomplish and the results when it fails.

Safety comes ahead of points. Watching for and mitigating hazards must occur for the entire event—setup, operating, teardown. Why do so few pictures show personal protective equipment (PPE) in use? Where are the hard hats, gloves, fire extinguishers, and safety officer with his or her checklist?

The typical rationalization is “all that is a waste of time,” “it’s quicker to ignore what might happen,” and “nothing happened last year.” I always return to the 4 Ps of safety: people, places, personal protective equipment (PPE), and personal accountability. What do they mean?

Safety is everyone’s responsibility, regardless of our roles. Everyone needs a safety briefing, in general, and for specific tasks, such as raising a tower. One person ignoring their responsibility can lead to an accident--sometimes, a tragic accident.

Even at home, our stations can contain hazards, and most of us are unfamiliar with added ones in the field. It’s everyone’s responsibility to identify and mitigate—if not eliminate—hazards. Warning tape and signs help make places safer. Use them!

PPE—insist upon hard hats where anything (tools, parts, towers, and masts) could fall. Even when on the ground, there are tripping hazards. I once stopped a tower operation when, after being warned, another ham showed up in the drop zone without a hard hat! Except when operating rotating equipment, gloves are essential in preventing injuries. Let everyone know that they should bring their PPE (or club-provided PPE) if they do more than simply operate a radio—no exceptions!

Personal accountability is simple but often overlooked. Everyone involved in using hazardous materials or tools must know and follow the safety rules. Do not allow anyone to take part in a task until they are briefed and know how the entire task is to occur. Stop the task if someone is inattentive. It takes less than a second for a hazard to become a mistake that causes an accident.

I lost a high school classmate on the nuclear submarine that sank—the Thresher. The Navy completely redid its nuclear safety program. It was used as an example after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which led to my final career, focused on safety compliance. As our local sports car racing club’s motto states: “Be Safe and Have Fun.” Let that be your theme for every ARRL SET and Field Day. —Adapted from an article by ARRL New Mexico Section Manager Bill Mader, K8TE