Who we serve
DeKalb ARES supports a range of public safety, public health, and community organizations — most through informal, long-running volunteer relationships rather than formal agreements. Our job is to show up trained, equipped, and ready when any of them calls.
Public safety
DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency (DEMA)
Our primary relationship. When DEMA activates ARES, members deploy into the field or the Emergency Operations Center to be ready for damage assessment, situational awareness reports, and message handling — including the Hurricane Helene activation in September 2024.
Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency (GEMA)
DeKalb ARES supports GEMA at the statewide level through GAARES and GA AuxComm, linking our local operators into the broader Georgia emergency response framework.
Public health
DeKalb ARES has provided radio operators to several major metro-Atlanta hospitals during drills and events in past years, and has partnered with the DeKalb Board of Health on mass-dispensing exercises when asked. These aren't ongoing operational relationships, but members are ready when called on.
- Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
- Emory University Hospital
- Emory Midtown Hospital
- Grady Memorial Hospital
- DeKalb County Board of Health
We've supported mass-dispensing drills and other public-health exercises as needed.
Community events
We join with neighboring ARES groups across metro Atlanta to provide communications support for major public events — situational awareness, net control, aid-station operators, SAG vehicles, runner shadows.
- Atlanta Marathon — March
- Peachtree Road Race — July 4
- Polar Opposite run — January
Partner organizations
Beyond served agencies, DeKalb ARES operates as part of a wider amateur radio community that makes the work possible.
Alford Memorial Radio Club
AMRC provides the repeater facilities that host our weekly training net and serve as our primary and backup communication infrastructure. DeKalb ARES joins AMRC each year for ARRL Field Day.
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
DeKalb ARES is affiliated with the ARRL — the national association for amateur radio — and operates within the ARES framework the League established in 1935.
Main site: arrl.org · ARES program page
Georgia ARES
DeKalb ARES is part of the ARRL Georgia Section. Georgia ARES coordinates section-wide training, exercises, and served-agency relationships; members are strongly encouraged to check in to the state-level HF net (Sunday 22:00 UTC on 3.975 MHz LSB) when licensed for HF.
Section leadership and org chart: ARRL Georgia Section →
We routinely coordinate and co-staff events with the ARES groups in City of Atlanta, Gwinnett, and North Fulton counties. Frequencies and net schedules are on the Nets page.
County officials, agency leadership, and event organizers interested in requesting DeKalb ARES support: please reach out via the Contact page to connect with Emergency Coordinator James W. Penland, N4RAR.