A CALL TO COMMITMENT

The Mission of Emergency Response Communications

Dear ERC Members,

As Emergency Response Communications continues to develop, it is important that every member understands why ERC exists, whom we serve, and what will be expected of those who choose to participate.

I invite each of you to visit and carefully read the ERC Mission Statement.

Our mission is more than words on a website. It defines the organization we are building and the standard by which we intend to operate.

ERC exists to provide reliable, disciplined, and timely emergency communications in support of Church leadership when normal communications are disrupted, overloaded, or unavailable.

That mission requires more than radios, licenses, equipment, or participation in a weekly net. It requires committed individuals willing to learn, train, practice, prepare, and serve.

WE NEED COMMITTED COMMUNICATORS

Fellowship and friendship are natural and welcome benefits of amateur radio. However, the ERC net, meetings, and training activities cannot exist primarily as social gatherings.

We have work to do.

We need operators who are willing to develop the skills necessary to function effectively when communications become difficult and Church leaders need dependable information.

That means learning proper message handling, participating in training nets and exercises, understanding our communications procedures, maintaining equipment, developing backup capabilities, and becoming proficient with the communications systems available to us.

During an actual emergency, there may be little time to learn these skills.

Preparation must happen before the emergency.

OUR RESPONSIBILITY

ERC communicators are not emergency managers, nor are we the decision-makers for Church leadership.

We are communicators.

Our responsibility is to establish and maintain reliable communications pathways so authorized information can move between members, wards, stakes, leadership, and appropriate resources.

Church leaders must be able to trust that when information is placed into the ERC communications system, it will be handled accurately, professionally, efficiently, and responsibly.

That level of trust must be earned through preparation and demonstrated competence.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GET TO WORK

As ERC moves forward, we are looking for individuals who genuinely want to become part of a trained and dependable emergency communications organization.

You do not need to know everything today.

You do not need the most expensive radio.

You do not need decades of communications experience.

But you do need a willingness to learn, participate, practice, improve, and serve.

Our nets need to become opportunities to develop operational proficiency.

Our meetings need to accomplish specific objectives.

Our training needs to build measurable communications capability.

Our exercises need to identify weaknesses before those weaknesses become failures during an emergency.

And each of us should ask:

If communications failed tonight, would I be prepared to fulfill my assignment?

If the answer is not yet yes, then we know what we need to work toward.

AN INVITATION TO SERVE

Please visit www.ercsoutah.org, read the ERC Mission Statement, and consider the commitment associated with becoming an active ERC communicator.

We are building something that could become extremely important when conventional communications are unavailable, and Church leadership needs reliable communications the most.

There will always be room for friendship and fellowship among us. But our primary reason for gathering is service, preparation, and communications readiness.

The time for building that capability is now.

It is time to train.

It is time to prepare.

It is time to get to work.