Third-party traffic
A non-licensed person may speak over your station while you are present at the control point and acting as control operator. This is how a shelter manager talks directly to an EOC, and how children at a demonstration get to say hello.
Internationally it is restricted: third-party traffic is only permitted with countries that have a third-party agreement with the US. Canada does; many countries do not.
Emergency provisions
- Section 97.403 — you may use any means of radiocommunication at your disposal to provide
- Section 97.405 — a station in distress may use any means to attract attention and obtain
- RACES operation follows the direction of the responsible civil defense organization.
essential communication needs in connection with the immediate safety of human life and protection of property when normal systems are unavailable.
assistance, on any frequency, in any service.
These are for genuine emergencies. "The repeater was busy" is not one.
Practical guidance for served-agency work
- Do not pass patient names or medical details in the clear. Encryption is prohibited, so summarize
- Log everything with times.
- Follow the agency's incident command structure; you are a communicator, not a decision maker.
or use a numbering system agreed with the agency in advance.