How To Join

How to participate in WECG

Show Up

We invite you to join us for our monthly meetings, the second Thursday of every month at 7PM at the Search and Rescue building on the corner of the Smith Road and the Northwest Road (look for the building with the antennas and garage doors). At the meetings we discuss upcoming drills, there are educational opportunities, and we will hear about the work being done by different branches of the group.

Our Membership Coordinator can be reached at info@wecg.org.

Sign Up

Fill out the ARES membership form, the Whatcom County Emergency Worker SAR application which includes a background check request, and just the front part of the application for a Washington State Emergency Worker card, EMD-024 Emergency Worker Registration Card. Turn them in to the Membership coordinator at the monthly meeting, or if that Coordinator is not there, to one of the board members (there’s usually one of us there). The background check needs to be updated every 5 years.

Get in contact

Contact us via email or the contact page

Get trained & stay current

While various training opportunities arise throughout the year, there are three classes of WECG members. The qualification requirements each class of membership are:

Novice

  • Amateur radio technician license (or a higher license)
  • Background check
  • Whatcom County Division of Emergency Management (DEM) Card
  • Be physically and mentally fit for the role that you wish to participate in the group.*
  • ICS 100 and ICS 700
  • SAR Subject First Encounter

Support

  • Base camp orientation
  • SARGAR
  • Radio training
  • ICS 200 and ICS 800
  • First aid, AED, CPR, and Bloodborne Pathogen training
  • Wilderness First Responder
  • Helicopter Operations and Safety

Field

  • Radio Relay Operations
  • Wilderness Survival Classroom and Field
  • SAR Land Navigation
  • GPS & Satellite Navigation
  • Search Techniques
  • Rescue Techniques
  • Crime Scene Operations
  • SARTopo Usage

*Nota bene: we have physically disabled members who participate in the group activities via their home base stations and Zoom.  The key is that you need to be physically fit for the role that you wish to play; a Net Control operator during a county emergency can run the net from home, for example.

We ask that you complete these steps within a year of applying for membership.  Email (or give) your training certifications to either the Membership or Training Coordinator.  We also ask that once a member, you do the following to remain in good standing:

  • Attend at least two (2) General Membership meetings per year.
  • Attend at least two (2) training events per year
  • Once you have an FCC amateur radio license, check in to one of the WECG radio nets at least once per month (or 12 per year).
  • Serve as Net Control Operator for at least two (2) WECG radio nets per year.  Sign up is through a Google spreadsheet; contact a Board member for more information if you don’t have access to that spreadsheet yet.
  • Have access to their WCSAR Office365 account where important information is stored.
  • Pay their annual dues

Other steps to take, depending upon your level of interest:

Check In

WECG runs many different radio nets every week, both digital and voice.  Our first, and still most popular net is the Sunday night voice net at 1900 hours (7:00pm) on the Church Road repeater 442.8250 MHz with a tone of 156.7 Hz, but we run a variety of nets as well.  If you’re unfamiliar with radio nets, ask any member for help.  We have many members with a rich understanding of the digital modes who will be glad to help you get started, and we also have regular trainings on those modes after our General Membership meetings.

Participate

Throughout the year your help is needed in conducting drills and events, and putting down your name as willing to be called out to respond to emergencies along with more experienced operators. Our service to the community is the volunteer work that we do. We are excited to provide emergency communication support with you!