The purpose of ARES—Amateur Radio Emergency Service—of Polk County Iowa is to provide emergency radio communications for Polk County and surrounding communities when officially activated via authorized agency.

Polk County Emergency Coordinator Scott Kirstein N0OOD.

ARES members volunteer their time and expertise to support public service agencies when normal communications facilities are not functioning or are overloaded due to planned or unplanned events. We also provide communications support for non-profit community events, which not only helps the community, but gives us live experience in handling traffic for agencies that might call upon us for emergency communications in the future. For more information about the role of ARES in national public service communications, visit the American Radio Relay League official page on the subject.