so a few weeks ago there was a pretty bad storm system that came through our county and the local ARES group got activated to support the EOC and a couple of the Red Cross shelters. ive been a technician for about two years and only upgraded to general last spring, joined ARES maybe six months ago but hadnt done much besides the monthly nets and one tabletop exercise we ran at the fire station.

when the callout came i honestly panicked a little. i knew where the EOC was and i had my go bag more or less ready but once i got there it was just kind of overwhelming — people everywhere, the EC was running around coordinating, someone handed me a clipboard and told me to check in operators as they arrived and log their assignments. not exactly glamorous but fine, i could do that.

then about two hours in they needed someone at one of the shelter locations because the ham they had there had a family situation and had to leave. so i ended up going over there with my HT and a mag mount on my car and just... staffing the position. mostly it was checking in with the EOC net every 30 minutes and relaying a few messages about cot counts and supply requests. nothing technically complicated but i was hyper aware that if i screwed something up it would actually affect real people.

made it through fine but im still thinking about all the things i didnt know going in. like i had no idea the shelter needed a specific ICS form filled out for message traffic, nobody mentioned that in any of the training i did. anyway curious if anyone else remembers their first real activation and how they felt about it after. and also if theres stuff you wish someone had told you beforehand

man that shelter assignment on short notice with just an HT sounds stressful, but honestly it sounds like you did exactly what needed doing and that's the whole point. i remember my first real activation back maybe 2012 or so, flooding situation, and i sat at a staging area for four hours doing essentially nothing because the EmComm needs were pretty light that day. felt useless but the EC told me afterward that just having bodies in the right seats matters because you never know when things escalate fast.

the ICS forms thing is real and unfortunately a lot of ARES training glosses over the paperwork side. ICS 309 for message logs and knowing how to fill out a 213 properly — that stuff matters a lot more during an actual activation than most nets ever practice. if your group does any future training exercises i'd push the EC to run a full simulated message flow with actual forms, it's tedious but it sticks. you clearly have the right instincts already though, just keep showing up

yeah the first time is always a little chaotic no matter how much you trained. the tabletop stuff is good but it cant really replicate that feeling when the radio traffic is actually real and theres people depending on accurate info. you adapt though. sounds like you held it together which is honestly more than some people do.

one thing i'd say — after every activation or even drill, sit down within a day or two while its fresh and write down every moment where you felt lost or unsure. not to beat yourself up but just as a personal gap list. then go find out the answer before the next one. i built up a little laminated quick-reference card for myself with net procedures, common ICS form numbers, and my EC's backup contact info. dumb simple stuff but when youre tired and stressed your brain does not cooperate