Membership

How to Become an EMRG Member

To become an EMRG member you can fill out the EMRG membership form and mail it, or hand it in at an EMRG meeting. You may want to attend an EMRG meeting first to get a better understanding of EMRG before joining. Joining EMRG is making a commitment, so there is nothing wrong with taking some time to gather information to see what you think, before making a decision.

It is understood that people have family and work commitments, so no one is available all the time, however not participating in anything adds no value to EMRG. Please do not sign up just to put your name on the list.

Skills Required

There are no special requirements to be an EMRG member. You DO NOT need to own a radio, You DO NOT need radio operating experience, and you DO NOT need technical skills. All that is required is an Amateur radio license and a willingness to participate to the best of your availability. There are no dues for membership.

The most important resource for EMRG is people. There are permanent radios at key sites, EMRG has a supply of radios and there are Amateurs with radios they will lend in an emergency. Training and exercises help develop skills and confidence and new members are partnered with existing members to gain experience. No one is sent to do an assignment unless they feel confident about what they are being requested to do and agree to do it. There is nothing wrong with saying "I’m not comfortable doing that job ".

The most important skills a new member can bring are the skills they use everyday. Preparing for and delivering Emergency Communications requires a broad range of skills, including organization, writing, planning, doing routine radio checks, creating or delivering training, inventory, helping paint, carrying things, cleaning up and just otherwise being there when needed. While there are some technical projects and certainly those skills can be useful, most technical work is done prior to an event, not during.

Membership Update Process

The EMRG membership process requires each and every member to send a letter, email, or make a phone call, to the membership co-ordinator once per year, in the fall (Sept/Oct) to renew their membership. If the membership co-ordinator does not hear from a member, their name is moved to the next level of membership. The membership co-ordinator will attempt to contact the person to make sure that the change is desired by the member.

EMRG members must not assume that because they know the membership co-ordinator they should automatically updated on the list. Even the team leader has to send in a notification for update. The update is also a good time to note any changes such as address, phone number or email address. This process ensures that names are removed from the membership list if the person does not fill out an updated form so the list does not grow with the names of people who have moved away or are no longer interested in EMRG.

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES

The membership system has two categories of membership:

• Active: Participates as much as possible in training, meetings and exercises. Receives a copy of the newsletter.
• nactive: Interested in EMRG, but unable to participate in training, meetings and exercises at this time.

How Many Members in EMRG

EMRG has 50 members, of which about 25 participate regularly. Over the years various methods were used to contact and interest local Amateurs in EMRG. Eventually it was realized that volunteerism in Amateur radio is no different than the rest of the population, only a small group of people have this particular interest. Amateurs who are not involved in emergency communications are busy assisting with local clubs, RAC the national amateur organization, expanding different facets of the hobby, or just being the large pool of users who make it viable for manufacturers to build equipment for Amateurs to use.

While it is recognized that there is no big pool of new members waiting to be tapped, work must continue to contact and attract new members, as a few leave each year, so new members are required just to maintain existing levels.

Volunteers in an Emergency

Like the general population, Amateurs want to help when an emergency or disaster happens. Unfortunately, untrained Amateurs are just volunteers with a radio. Without training, Amateurs do not understand the role of EMRG, who is in charge, operating procedures or equipment operation. Some operating locations are in secure facilities, while shelters are filled with vulnerable people. An emergency is not the time or place to send people who have unknown skills and backgrounds.

EMRG will use some new volunteers in an emergency by partnering them with EMRG members. The primary source of assistance for EMRG in an emergency is Mutual Aid with neighbouring ARES groups.