OCRACES
County of Orange (California)
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
Orange County Sheriff's Department
Emergency Management Division

Welcome to the OCRACES Website

County of Orange RACES, an auxiliary communications unit of the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD), is coordinated by OCSD's Emergency Management Division. Members are OCSD Professional Services Responders (PSRs) within the Mutual Aid Bureau of the Special Operations Division. They are trained to provide voice, video, and data communications during emergencies, using their own equipment on County VHF and UHF repeaters and on simplex frequencies. When activated, OCRACES provides emergency communications support, handles messages between incidents and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), or between public-safety agencies and critical locations, and reports conditions from the field to the EOC or Command Post.

Mission Statement

• To provide emergency communication services for the County of Orange under the guidance of the Orange County Emergency Manager and Emergency Management Division Personnel

  • These services include, but are not limited to:

    • Support to the County of Orange Emergency Management Division with auxiliary communications capabilities from County Emergency Operations Center radio room and field locations to and from:

      • The general population,

      • Orange County city RACES, EmComm, and Public Service organizations,

      • Adjacent counties, and

      • State and Federal Government organizations

    • Provide voice and digital communication services in the event of the loss of existing communications infrastructure including public service radio services, cellphone service, internet service, conventional power, and any combination of these services