2024 Ares Mississippi Set

Wildfire Heatwave SET

The Mississippi Section Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) will conduct the 2024 Mississippi Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on Saturday, August 10, from 8:00 AM until 8:00 PM.

This year’s statewide exercise, Wildfire Heatwave SET, will simulate a major wildfire emergency caused by severe drought and prolonged heat conditions, combined with widespread communications challenges.

All incidents and messages associated with the SET are simulated for training and evaluation purposes.

Exercise Scenario

The exercise will simulate multiple wildfires affecting areas across Mississippi, particularly regions where normal communications infrastructure may be limited.

Simulated conditions include:

• Multiple wildfires occurring across the state.
• Severe drought and prolonged extreme heat.
• Disruption or limitation of normal public-safety and public-service communications.
• Threats to public and private property.
• Increased communications demands on firefighters, emergency-management agencies, and other responders.

The Role of Amateur Radio

ARES members and other participating amateur radio operators will provide simulated emergency-communications support to public-safety agencies, emergency-management organizations, state and local government, and other served agencies.

Operators may participate from:

• Home stations
• Mobile stations
• Portable stations
• Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs)
• Other participating agency locations

Exercise communications may use HF, VHF, UHF, analog voice, SSB, and digital voice and data modes.

Exercise Objectives

The SET provides an opportunity to evaluate emergency-communications preparedness while demonstrating amateur radio capabilities to served agencies and the public.

Participating operators will practice:

• Establishing communications when normal systems are limited or unavailable.
• Relaying simulated emergency and welfare traffic.
• Supporting county and state Emergency Operations Centers.
• Coordinating amateur radio resources across multiple counties.
• Using both voice and digital communications networks.
• Identifying strengths and weaknesses in emergency-communications plans and procedures.

County Emergency Coordinators will coordinate participating operators within their respective counties.

Communications Strategy

Initial exercise notifications may use normal communications methods such as telephone, text messaging, and online platforms.

As the simulated communications disruption progresses, amateur radio RF networks will become the primary communications method used during the exercise.

Exercise scenario information will be released incrementally throughout the 12-hour SET, requiring participants to respond as conditions develop.

Statewide and Interstate Coordination

The goal is to exercise emergency communications across as many Mississippi counties as practical and, where possible, exchange simulated traffic with neighboring ARES organizations.

This provides an opportunity to practice moving information beyond local networks during a large-scale incident.

Safety and Exercise Identification

Safety takes priority throughout the SET.

All participants must comply with applicable FCC regulations and clearly identify simulated emergency traffic as part of an exercise.

Exercise communications should make it clear that:

THIS IS A DRILL. THIS IS NOT A REAL EMERGENCY.

If an actual emergency occurs during the SET, exercise activities may be suspended so amateur radio resources can support real-world needs.

After-Action Reporting

Participants will submit reports following the exercise so activity, communications performance, and lessons learned can be evaluated.

The resulting information will help identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to improve future emergency-communications operations.