The Lincoln County Amateur Radio EMA Team will participate in the Winter Field Day Amateur Radio event in Damariscotta Jan. 29. The event will be held in the Damariscotta municipal parking lot by the boat launch. Radio operations start at 2 p.m.

LCART is part of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), consisting of about 20 licensed amateur volunteers. Volunteers train to be auxiliary communicators in the event normal communications (including cell phone towers) fail. 

Emergency communications or EmComm includes all means and modes for public safety communications in agencies throughout the government (e.g. law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services). Amateur radio operators can assist with these communications before, during and after declared emergencies, disasters or planned special security events.

The "Hambulance" is the fun name we use for our EmComms vehicle, serving wherever emergency communication is needed in Lincoln County, especially when cellular and internet services are unavailable. The vehicle is equipped to handle voice and digital communications, not only locally here in Lincoln County, but also throughout the state of Maine.

We are a RACES team. RACES stands for “Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service," a protocol created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC Part 97, Section 407). RACES volunteer operators are: 1. Licensed Radio Amateurs, 2. Certified by a civil defense agency 3. Able to communicate on Amateur Radio Frequencies during drills, exercises and emergencies 4. Activated by local, county and state jurisdictions and the only Amateur Radio operators authorized to transmit during declared emergencies, when the President of the United States specifically invokes the War Powers Act.