The IARU appoints Emergency Communications Co-Ordinators in each of the three regions. The current Co-Ordinator for Region 1 is Greg Mossop, G0DUB.
The Terms of Reference for the Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator can be found here.
The Emergency Communications needs of individual countries are very different to each other, some focus on natural hazards, others more technological problems that may arise. This means that the Groups involved in emergency communications have to adapt with some being part of their IARU National Society, others being independent. As part of the Co-Ordinators role a list is kept of local Groups and Co-Ordinator for that country is names to act as the point of contact for their country.
The list of National Co-Ordinators can be found here.
These groups may train locally but many also have frequent nets for on-air training and co-ordination. To avoid clashes, a list of Scheduled nets is kept here.
Some Emergencies may be kept inside a country, co-operation may be needed, either in keeping operating frequencies clear, or in helping to pass messages reliably across borders even in different languages.
To assist with this the IARU produces common Emergency Operating Procedures and a list of known frequencies in use by Emergency Communications Groups
Emergency Communications Frequencies
Emergency Operating Procedures
Finally, the IARU also organise occasional exercises or tests and have been involved in bringing Emergency Communications Groups together in face to face meetings known as GAREC, or Global Amateur Radio Emergency Conferences. Presentations from past events can be found here.
The international exercises or tests tend to be known as ‘GlobalSET’ or ‘Global Simulated Emergency Tests’. Historical information on those events can be found here.
A calendar of emergency communications exercises tests and events can be found here.
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