Kaufman County CERT, Inc.

Kaufman County CERT is in need of not just standard CERT members, but also those that wish to be part of our communications program.  In coorporation with Kaufman County Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Inc. (KCARES), we are trying to either place new members that have their amatuer (ham) radio license or are will to obtain them amateur license on each team in the county.  This will help us to ensure that we have some form of communicaitons within the county and between each team. 

Thanks to the FCC , it has become easier to earn your amateur radio license.  In fact, since the 90's, most people could get started in amateur radio by getting a No-Code Technician License, but starting on February 23, 2007, the requirement for Morse Code is no longer required for  all levels of amateur radio operators.  If you have your license, then it's now time to upgrade.  If you don't then it's time to get your license and working to reach the level of Amateur Extra.

Members of Kaufman County CERT that have or obatin their amateur radio license shall automatically gain membership into Kaufman County ARES.  Along with the ARES membership, you will have the opportunity to attend various training programs, including the National Weather Service SkyWarn program.  

Kaufman County CERT along with Kaufman County ARES are working on raising funds to help establish an emergency communication repeater in the county.  Currenlty, there is one repeater that covers the county, but it's use during an emergency is limited to the local RACES program, which is limited in their operation.  To help ensure that there is a viable repeater for emergency communications from one end of the county to the other.  To learn how you or your business may help sponsor this repeater, please visit the Kaufman County ARES repeater page.

Why use amateur radio operators you might ask.  Well, they are some of the toughest groups of people around that have been working to assist with emergency communicaitons or public since at least 1917, in fact, the ARRL's ARES program dates back to  1935, some 17+ years before the federal goverment decided to create a civil defense communications program.  The equipment that amateur radio operators use is sometimes able to handle adverse conditions better than commerical grade equipment, because the radio manufactures know that amateur radios are going to get a lot of abuse, to learn more about why we wish to use amateurs, please visit the Kaufman County ARES/Kaufman County CERT page.

We are also seeking donations in an effort to setup and run a commerical grade communications system, similar to your local police or fire department, thus allow us to provide even more communication options throughout the community.  In the future, we are hoping to be able to provide each CERT member with a voice pager, similar to those of a volunteer fire department, which will allow us to dispatch our members out in an emergency, when all other forms of communications may be damaged.

If you are interested in communication, amateur radio or something similar, please look into becoming a part of Kaufman County CERT and offering your services also as a communications member.  For more information, please feel free to contact us.