Harris County ARES and Citizen Corps Pen Accord

Houston, Texas, February 5, 2004 – In what may be the first such agreement in the United States, a county ARES organization today signed a formal affiliation agreement with a county Citizen Corps council.  ARRL South Texas Section ARES District 14 – Harris County and Harris County Citizen Corps agreed to collaborate to raise the awareness of Amateur Radio as a public safety resource; provide organization, resource development and training for Amateur Radio emergency communications; and promote the formation of Community Emergency Response Teams and assist those teams with education, training and service opportunities that support these first responders, disaster relief organizations and community safety efforts.

"With over 3.5 million residents, Harris County is the only Texas county that is it’s own ARES District.  It is estimated there are 5,500 Amateur Radio operators in this county.  More than 180 of them have registered with one of the four ARES groups, making it the largest Amateur Radio emergency communications group in the county," says ARES District Emergency Coordinator Jerry Reimer, KK5CA.

Harris County Citizen Corps was created in August 2002 and has received many awards for  creating opportunities for people to volunteer to help our community prepare for and respond to emergencies.  “We have been recognized by FEMA as one of their Ten Best Practices councils, and are working to build our success into a nation wide model,” says Mark Sloan, Special Assistant to County Judge Robert Eckels for Homeland Security. 

Harris County Citizen Corps includes Medical Reserve Corps, Volunteers in Police Services, Neighborhood Watch, and Community Emergency Response Teams.  "Harris County has 191 CERT members that make up seven teams, with more being trained,” says Sloan.

“We see the integration of CERTs into the existing Amateur Radio voice communications plans as enhancing their ability to provide timely situation reports and to request resources,” says Reimer.

“Working with county emergency management, American Red Cross, and many hospitals, Harris County ARES has pioneered a flexible and redundant digital communications network based on the Winlink system,” says Reimer.  “Our customers see value in the speed and security provided by a digital message system that can function with or without the internet.” 

The affiliation agreement was signed by County Judge Robert Eckels, Harris County Citizen Corps Council chairman, and Jerry Reimer, ARES DEC for Harris County.  The Harris County Citizen Corps web site is:   www.harriscountycitizencorps.com     The Harris County ARES web site is: www.arrlstx.org/district14.htm

ARES DEC Jerry Reimer (L) and County

Judge Robert Eckels (R) sign agreement.