Delaware State Police and the Sussex County Amateur Radio Emergency Service have established a relationship whereby ARES will provide emergency back-up communications for the state police.

This innovative program will give state police in Sussex County the time-tested resources of Ham Radio as a back-up in the event that their primary communications system is disrupted.

According to Major Robert Hawkins, operations officer for Sussex County, “Delaware must always be aware of the threats of hurricanes, nor’easters, severe snow, and other disasters. Thankfully, we don’t get hit often, but when we do, communications is absolutely essential and having amateur radio operators available to fill in gaps will be a real asset.”

In this relationship ARES will set up communications at locations defined by DSP and relay essential messages between these various nodes. The program will initiate in Sussex County with the potential to expand across the state.

ARES is a volunteer organization of amateur radio operators who train and deploy to assist in times of emergencies when regular channels of communication may become compromised or inoperative. It is a field operating element of the American Radio Relay League, the national organization for amateur radio.