so i passed my general last spring and joined our county ARES group maybe 3 months ago. been going to the monthly nets and did one tabletop exercise but this weekend theres an actual activation for the county emergency management drill and im kind of dreading it in a good way i guess.

the EC said i'd probably just be handling check-ins at the staging area which doesnt sound too complicated but i keep second guessing myself on the ICS stuff. like i know the basics from the online courses (did ICS 100 and 200) but actually filling out the forms under pressure when people are waiting on you feels different than doing it at home with coffee.

anyone been through their first activation and have tips? mostly just looking for reassurance i guess but any practical stuff would help too. i have my go bag mostly sorted, HT and a spare battery, the county simplex and repeater freqs programmed in, printed copy of the local ARES plan. feel like im forgetting something obvious.

honestly the first one is always a little nerve wracking but you sound way more prepared than most people showing up for their first drill. the fact that you already did ICS 100 and 200 puts you ahead of like half the volunteers i've worked with over the years, no joke.

the form stuff becomes muscle memory pretty quick. just write slow and legible, that's 90% of it. and dont be afraid to ask your EC or whoever your supervisor is for clarification -- in a real activation thats expected and in a drill its literally the point. nobody wants you guessing when youre not sure.

one thing i'd add to your kit -- pen. two pens actually. sounds dumb but you'd be amazed how many people show up without one. and a notepad separate from your ICS forms for scratch notes.

yeah what he said. i remember my first activation was a real weather event, not even a drill, and i was terrified i'd mess something up. turned out my job was basically just relaying resource requests between two nets and logging traffic and it was actually kind of boring for long stretches and then suddenly really busy for like 20 minutes then boring again.

the waiting is the part nobody tells you about. bring snacks and something to do in the quiet periods but stay off your phone during active net time obviously. and make sure your batteries are topped off the night before, not the morning of.