Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service. RACES is a public service that provides communications personnel to government agencies in time of extraordinary need. During periods of activation, RACES personnel are called upon to perform many tasks for the government agencies they serve. Although the exact nature of each activation may be different, the common thread is communications. The City of Lewes RACES organization is comprised of a group of licensed amateur radio operators who will be called up to support the communications needs of the Incident Commander during activation of the City's emergency operations center in response to an emergency or disaster.
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service RACES, administered by local, county and state emergency management agencies, and supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States government, is a part of the Amateur Radio Service that provides radio communications for civil-preparedness purposes only, during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies. These emergencies are not limited to war-related activities, but can include natural disasters such as fires, floods and earthquakes. As defined in the rules, RACES is a radio communication service, conducted by volunteer licensed amateurs, designed to provide emergency communications to local or state civil-preparedness agencies. It is important to note that emergency management officials authorize RACES operation only, and this operation is strictly limited to official civil-preparedness activity in the event of an emergency-communications situation.