1. The use of the ARES version of the ICS-213 form
ARES Message Handling
The use of the ARES version of the ICS-213 form

2. BACKGROUND
A Federal plan for the national response to disasters dates back to the 1990s. This plan later became the National Response Plan for “All – Hazards Incidents” to save lives, protect property and the environment and to meet basic human needs. This national plan quickly accelerated and improved immediately following the terrorist “9/11” attack on the US. Further information can be gained from:
From this effort came the National Incident Management System (NIMS). An important part of the NIMS Plan is Communications. When “9/11” occurred, and many government and private agencies were deployed to the scene, it became immediately clear that these various agencies were unable to communicate with each other. They all used different radio frequencies and spoke using different languages (codes).
The result of this was chaos that greatly hampered the efforts of the emergency responders and resulted in the deaths of responders. However, what grew out of this chaos was the plan for agency “Interoperability”.

3. BACKGROUND Cont’d:
The “Interoperability” part of the NIMS framework has established national emergency frequencies that all governmental responding agencies can utilize to communicate with each other. This would include Tribes, Cities, Counties, States and National agencies, including law enforcement, fire, search and recue to name a few.
Interoperability also includes the use of a language that can quickly and easily be understood by all responding agencies. This language turns out to be “Plain English” without the use of codes.
Amateur Radio Operators have a long history of assisting in communications during emergencies and disasters when all regular communications systems are down or extremely overloaded to the point of being unusable.
This training is designed to provide you (Licensed Amateur Radio Operators and ARES Members) with the tools to be able to accurately and quickly pass messages during emergencies/disasters, using the formats our served agencies will be expecting. This training will start with the “Words” and “Pro-Words” that will be defined and used in “Message Handling”.

4. WORDS:
(Voice) (Action)
INITIALS Series of initials follows
INITIAL Single initial follows
MIXED GROUP - Group of letters & numbers follows
BREAK - Pause for fills
WAIT (WAIT OUT) - Pause (pause longer)
MORE - More to follow
COPY - Transmission received satisfactorily (“ROGER” does not mean “Yes” or “I Agree” )
GO - Go ahead
OVER - End of this transmission, Reply needed
OUT - End of this transmission, No reply needed

5. WORDS: (Voice) - (Action) AFFIRMATIVE - Yes NEGATIVE - No
READY Ready to receive message
CONFIRM Confirm the following
I SPELL I will spell the group
SAY AGAIN - Please repeat
WORD AFTER - the word after ___
WORD BEFORE - the word before ___
ALL AFTER all after ___
ALL BEFORE all before ___
ALL BETWEEN - all between ___ and___
I SAY AGAIN - I will repeat (correction or clarity)
SPEAK SLOWER - Your transmission is too fast
(Remember you speak faster than you write)

6. PROWORDS & PHONETICS EXAMPLES
FIGURE(S):
6 say “figure SIX”
52 say “figures FIFE TOO”
TELEPHONE FIGURES:
Say “Telephone figures FIFE TREE ZERO SIX TOO ATE FOUR ZERO FOUR FIFE” (This would count as three words)
INITIAL(S) or LETTER GROUP:
L. Karl Fisher say “initial LIMA..KARL..FISHER”
I AM say “initial INDIA..AM”
X say “initial X-RAY”
PM say “initials PAPA MIKE”

7. PROWORDS & PHONETICS EXAMPLES
MIXED GROUP:
B8 say “mixed group BRAVO ATE”
R/9 say “mixed group ROMEO SLASH NYENER”
W6KJX/VA say “mixed group WHISKEY SIX KILO JULIET XRAY SLASH VICTOR ALPHA”
MIXED GROUP FIGURE(S):
2C say “mixed group figure TOO CHARLIE”
2/C say “mixed group figure TOO SLASH CHARLIE”
146R73 say “mixed group figures WUN FOUR SIX ROMEO SEVEN TREE”

8. PROWORDS & PHONETICS EXAMPLES
AMATEUR CALL:
KJ6OCL say “Amateur call KILO JULIET SIX OSCAR CHARLIE LIMA” This counts as one word.
say “ address KILO FOXTROT INDIA SIERRA HOTEL ECHO ROMEO ATSIGN I spell A-T-S-I-G-N ..ALPHA FOXTROT ECHO SIERRA dot I spell D-O-T..DELTA OSCAR TANGO ..CHARLIE OSCAR MIKE”
This counts as 5 words, KJ6OCL ATSIGN AFES DOT COM.

9. Standard ITU Phonetic Number Pronunciation
Spell Numeral Say
Zero “ZERO”
One “WUN”
Two “TOO”
Three “TREE”
Four “FOU-er
Five “FIFE”
Six “SIX”
Seven “SEV-en”
Eight “ATE”
Nine “NYE-ner”

10. PUNCTUATION:
MARK AS WRITTEN VOICED
DASH
/ / SLASH
? ? QUERY
, COMMA COMMA
. (Period) X initial X-RAY
. (Decimal) R ROMEO
@ ATSIGN initials ALPHA TANGO SIERRA INDIA GOLF NOVEMBER

13. PREAMBLE:
Message Number: Assigned by the first HAM sending the message. It never changes no matter how many operators handle it.
Say: “Message Number TOO SIX ATE”
Precedence:
“Emergency” - Life or Death
“Priority” - Urgent
“H&W” - Health or Welfare of an individual in the incident area.
“Routine” - All other messages (Handle Last)
From Station:
“Call Sign” of the station that first sent the message.

14. Check: The actual number of words = [words, character groups and separators (X) in the text of the “message” only]. So if 17 words in the message, say “figures Wun Seven”.
Place of Origin: The actual place where the message started from, not necessarily the location of the station of origin. Example: If a message is from a person in Ruth and you are in the Shelter, use Ruth. Otherwise, use your own location (Shelter).
Time Filed: Time the message was written, in 24 hour format, LOCAL time…not UTC time. Say “Zero Ate Tree Zero.”
Date Filed: The date the message was written. Use mm/dd/yy format. Say: “Zero Ate slash Too Zero slash Wun Seven.”
Then say “Break” to indicate the end of the preamble.

15. TO / FROM ADDRESS: MESSAGE TEXT: Say “Break for Text”
To: “Name or Call” and ICS or “Position” to whom you are sending the message.
From: “Name or Call” and ICS or “Position” for whom you are sending the message
Subject: Just like you would do on your s.
Say “Break for Text” 
MESSAGE TEXT:
Message Body: Keep it brief as possible and to the point (45 words or less). If a longer message is needed, use the ICS-213 (ARES) long form.
Before sending the message: Double check message content for accuracy with the person that drafted the message, ask for his/her initials on the form.
Note: ASAP should be said as “initials Alpha Sierra Alpha Papa”
Note: ETA should be said as “initials Echo Tango Alpha”
Use “X” in place of periods. Say: “X-Ray” (counts as one word).
Say “Break for signature”

16. SIGNATURE:
Received from: The Name and Position identifies the person sending the message. This will often be the person identified in the “From”, but it may be another person. Have that person initial the message.
Say “END of Message”
Check to see if anyone needs a fill or a correction.
Received By: The Call Sign / Name of the operator receiving the message.
Received Time: and Received Date: Time and date you received the message.
The REPLY:
Reply to Message Number: When sending a REPLY, state that you are sending a reply.
Say: “REPLY to message number XXX.”
From Station: Use the “Call Sign, Name” (if you know the name) of the station sending the reply.
Check: Check and record the actual number of “words” = [words, character groups and separators (X) in REPLY text.]

17. Place of Origin: Location the message REPLY is being sent from.
Time Filed: and Date Filed: The Time (24-hour format, local time) and Date (mm/dd/yy) the REPLY message was written.
Say “BREAK for Text”
Reply Text: Keep the message brief and to the point. The form has room for 30 “words.”
Say “BREAK for Signature”
Received from: The Name and Position of the person for whom you’re sending the REPLY message. Have this person initial when he/she gives you the REPLY.
Then say “END of Message”
Check to see if anyone needs a fill or a correction.
Received by: The Call Sign / Name of the person receiving the REPLY message. 
Time Filed: and Date Filed: Time and Date you received the reply.

18. PRACTICE EXAMPLE
The following slide is an example of an ICS-213 (ARES Version) message that was sent.
To: John White (Logistics, at the TC-EOC)
From: Dave Brown (Manager, at the Red Cross Shelter)
Sent By: Karl (KJ6OCL, at the Red Cross Shelter)
Message: Dave realizes that his Shelter can only accept a few more evacuees.
Message Received:
By: Robert (KB6YTD, at the TC-EOC)
For: John White (Logistics, at the TC-EOC)
Reply Sent:
By: Robert (KB6YTD, at the TC-EOC)
From: John White (Logistics, at the TC-EOC)
To: Karl (KJ6OCL, at the Red Cross Shelter)
For: Dave Brown (Manager, at the Red Cross Shelter)
Reply: John lets Dave know that another shelter will be available.
Reply Received:
By: Karl (KJ6OCL, at the Red Cross Shelter)
For: Dave Brown

20. QUESTIONS
KB6YTD Robert Jackson
KJ6OCL Karl Fisher
03/2017