so i finally got activated for the first time last weekend, our county ARES group got called out to support a pretty bad flooding situation about 30 miles east of town. ive been a member for like 8 months and done all the training nets and the ICS-100 and 200 courses online but nothing really prepared me for just... how different it feels when its actually real.

the EC had us set up at the EOC and i was assigned to handle traffic between the shelter at the high school and the county emergency manager. seemed straightforward but the volume of messages got pretty heavy around hour 4 and i started second guessing my message handling, like was i using the right format, should i be logging timestamps differently, stuff like that. nobody complained but i kept feeling like i was just barely keeping up.

anyway it went okay i think. just curious if other people felt kind of lost their first time out even after doing all the training. also wondering if there's stuff you wish you'd practiced more before your first real activation

yeah that feeling is completely normal, honestly the first activation is always a little overwhelming no matter how much you've trained. the training nets and tabletops are great but theres no substitute for the real thing and the pressure that comes with it. i remember my first one years ago was a search and rescue support op and i was fumbling with my log sheets and second guessing everything i wrote down.

the thing that helped me most was just doing more simplex drills and actually practicing written traffic handling not just voice, because in a real activation you can get buried in formal messages real fast. also getting comfortable with the ICS 214 activity log format so it becomes muscle memory. sounds like you did fine though, keeping up under that kind of pressure your first time is honestly half the battle. the next one will feel a lot more natural.

message handling under load is no joke. i've seen experienced operators get flustered when the traffic really starts piling up. dont be too hard on yourself. one thing our group started doing is running monthly traffic handling drills specifically timed, like we simulate a busy shelter scenario and everyone has to log and relay messages with someone deliberately throwing in distractions. made a huge difference for our newer members.