Welcome to the Pima County R.A.C.E.S. Web Site
"Failure to Prepare is Preparing to Fail"
The Pima County R.A.C.E.S. group operates under the authority and direction of the Pima County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. R.A.C.E.S. is open to all licensed (wikipedia version),Amateur Radio Operators in good standing. You must attend an indoctrination and training class before becoming a certified member. Upon completion of the class, you will be issued a R.A.C.E.S. Identification Badge and allowed to join the group(s) of your choice.R.A.C.E.S. volunteers Must be able and willing to make a personal commitment to the program which includes four primary groups. They are the hospital communications group, mobile communications group (vans), home unit group and the emergency operations center (EOC). Regardless of the group you select, classroom training is required. You will also be expected to participate regularly in your groups practice sessions, nets, field training and state or county emergency simulation exercises. This is not to imply that you must participate in every one, but you should do so regularly. Indoctrination classes are held three or four times a year or as needed.We are fortunate in Southern Arizona in that we do not suffer the natural disasters that occur elsewhere. So why put out the effort? What we do have is major railroad and truck traffic passing through our area which may be carrying contaminating chemicals, biological waste, nuclear waste, explosives, etc. Possibly the most likely scenario we face, will be handling patient overflow and evacuee's from a major incident in San Diego or Los Angeles. Tucson and Phoenix would get the initial influx of this traffic. Lastly, what happens if the nuclear energy plant west of Phoenix has a problem? These are just some of the reasons we should be prepared. If you are interested in emergency preparedness, we hope you'll consider our RACES organization.You can download the latest power point slides about RACES and protocol used during emergency communications at the local hospitals.