so ive been part of our local ARES group for about 8 months now, been going to the monthly nets and did a couple of the tabletop exercises but this weekend theres an actual activation for a pretty big marathon event in our county and its the first time ill be deployed in a real support role and not just observing

my EC assigned me to one of the water stations about 3 miles from the finish line, ill be doing radio relay between the med team at my station and net control at the finish area. been told to expect maybe 4-5 hours of operation, mostly just check-ins and passing any medical traffic if something happens

i think im prepared but im second guessing everything. my go-bag is packed, HT is fully charged with a spare battery, i wrote out the ICS-213 form procedure on an index card because i always blank on the format when im nervous, and ive been practicing keeping my transmissions short and clear. but like... is there anything that always catches newer operators off guard at these events that i should know about? not talking about big emergencies, just the little stuff that trips people up

also not sure how formal the net discipline is going to be at something like this compared to our training nets, our EC is pretty experienced but i havent really talked to him much about what to expect day-of

the index card for ICS-213 is a great idea honestly, i still have a little cheat sheet in my bag and ive been doing this for years. dont let anyone make you feel silly for having reference material, that is literally what professionals do

one thing that catches people off guard at public service events is the noise. marathons especially, you get crowds and PA systems and generators near the med tents and suddenly you cant hear squat on your HT even with the volume maxed. if you have a speaker mic bring it, and position yourself so the speaker faces away from whatever is making noise. sounds obvious but in the moment you forget

also the net discipline at something like that is usually pretty relaxed compared to a declared emergency activation, your EC will probably keep things moving but dont stress if someone breaks in out of turn or there's some crosstalk, it happens. just stay calm, speak clearly, and if you miss something dont be afraid to ask for a repeat. nobody is going to judge you for that

you're going to do fine. the fact that you're thinking about this stuff ahead of time already puts you ahead of a lot of people who just show up and wing it

yeah what he said about the speaker mic is real, that was a thing i learned the hard way at a bike race a few years back lol. also bring snacks and water for yourself, i always forget and end up standing there for 3 hours running on fumes. the served agency folks sometimes have food but dont count on it

and just a heads up, sometimes these events run long or the schedule shifts and you end up staying an extra hour or so. not saying it will happen but worth having a plan for