PRESS
RELEASE
New
York City Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Service (NYC-ARECS)
Successfully Provides Communication Assistance to the New York
City Marathon
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Point
of contact:
NEW YORK, NY (November 7, 2011) - As in past years, the
New York City Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Service
(NYC-ARECS) has successfully provided volunteer public safety
communications to the New York City Marathon. This world famous
26.2 mile race, organized by New York Road Runners (NYRR),
started at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island.
NYC-ARECS
is a member run organization of NYC based amateur radio operators
(hams) who are trained and dedicated to providing radio communications
for governments, civil-preparedness and relief agencies during
periods of local, regional, or national civil emergencies. These
emergencies may include natural disasters (i.e. fires, floods
or earthquakes) or man-made disasters (i.e. acts of terrorism).
The roots of the team are deep in emergency communications dating
back three decades.
Staged
at strategic locations with members of the Marathon leadership,
NYC-ARECS deploys federally licensed radio operators who 'shadow'
key Marathon personnel. As in past years, the mission of the emergency
communicators is to provide a continuous flow of information in
the event of any sort of emergency situation. NYC-ARECS works
closely with many public safety organizations, including again
this year, Chief Michael Di Trani's U.S. Coast Guard police and
security team which provided security to Fort Wadsworth and its
46,000 runners.
Charles
Hargrove, President and Co-Founder of NYC-ARECS, who has been
providing volunteer emergency communications at the NYC Marathon
for near 20 years, said: "Providing communications at the
NYC Marathon is a demonstration of our team's commitment to public
service in New York City. This event is also a good training exercise
for our larger mission of preparing for providing emergency communication
in the event of a natural or man-made disaster in New York City."
NYC-ARECS
supports the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES),
a radio communication service coordinated by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) and managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This service
allows federally licensed emergency communicators to be called
up in the event of a major national disaster or war.
The
over-arching mission of NYC-ARECS is to provide professional,
timely, quality, and proficient auxiliary radio communications
to both government and other organizations. Persons interested
in learning more about how the organization can help their organization,
or persons interested in joining, should write to: n2nov@nyc-arecs.org.
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