PRESS RELEASE

THE NEW YORK CITY AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE ANNOUNCES PARTICIPATION IN SEPTEMBER'S NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH

THIS SEPTEMBER: A TIME TO REMEMBER. A TIME TO PREPARE.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Point of contact:

NEW YORK, NY (August 1, 2011) This September, our nation will mark the ten year anniversary of 9/11, the New York City Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Service (NYC-ARECS) has committed to participate in National Preparedness Month (NPM) in September, an event founded after 9/11 to increase preparedness in the U.S. The event, now in its eighth year, is a nationwide, month-long effort hosted by the FEMA Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps, encouraging households, businesses and communities to prepare and plan for emergencies.

One of NPM's key messages is: be prepared in the event an emergency causes you to be self-reliant for three days without utilities and electricity, water service, access to a supermarket or local services, or maybe even without response from police, fire or rescue. Preparing can start with three important steps:

1. Get an emergency supply kit

2. Make a plan for what to do in an emergency

3. Be informed about emergencies that could happen in your community, and identify sources of information in your community that will be helpful before, during and after an emergency.

Preparedness is a shared responsibility; it takes a whole community. This year's National Preparedness Month focuses on turning awareness into action by encouraging all individuals and all communities nationwide to make an emergency preparedness plan. Preparedness information and events will be posted to Ready.gov.

"As we all know, New York City is vulnerable to both natural and man-made disasters. So on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attack on New York City, all New Yorkers should be encouraged to be informed and make a plan on how they and their family will deal with the immediate aftermath of a civil emergency," said Charles Hargrove, President of the NYC-ARECS.

For more information about the FEMA Ready Campaign and National Preparedness Month, visit Ready.gov or call 11-800-BE-READY, 1-888-SE-LISTO, and TTY 1-800-462-7585.

Members of NYC-ARECS are dedicated to providing auxiliary radio communications for New York City in the event of a technological, natural or terrorist disaster. Team members are licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and may participate in the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), a protocol created by the FCC and is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security / Federal Emergency Management Agency.