The wave of megafires since 2018 in northern California has led to new interest in emergency management communications using radios. This is because amateur radio systems have long been able to function completely independently of internet and cellphone systems, a feature that is useful during wildfire and other disasters when communications towers may go down.
For immediate emergency management purposes, FEMA encourages using ham radio for Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) operations, and the National Association for Amateur Radio offers the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) to aid government agencies and nonprofit organizations. But can smaller-scale systems with a smaller scope of work also be of service?