ARC 213 General Message

Introduction.

This is a radio delivery based ARC 213 template. It is as close to a FEMA ICS213 as possible within the constraints of Winlink Express. Note the ARC 213 adds the Red Cross DR #, Precedence, and Message Number.

NOTE on printing.

Printing this form is dependent upon your selected printer and its settings. Various Web Browsers and and their viewing sizes are not all the same. Printing from a browsers print function may be different from the operating systems default print mode. Select what works for you, for both printing and viewing. You may print direct to the printer or save as a PDF, then print the PDF. For this form LANDSCAPE mode may print better than Portrait.

Purpose.

The ARC General Message is used by incident dispatchers or others to record incoming messages that cannot or should not be orally transmitted to the intended recipients. The ARC 213 may be used by the Incident Command Post or other incident personnel to transmit messages (e.g., resource orders, incident name change, other coordination / information issues, to the Incident Communications Center for transmission via radio or telephone to the addressee. The form is used to send any message or notification to incident personnel that requires hard-copy delivery. A digital delivery is best for complex requests or instructions. This sent ARC 213 has the message information in plain text within the message body so non-Express users can read, as they do not have the rendered HTML.

Preparation.

The ARC 213 may be initiated by incident dispatchers or any other personnel on an incident. Amateur Radio communicators make use of the 213 for messages beyond the incident and for wider purposes than designed. This is a good use of this versatile form.

To Reply you may type in the message as given or copy and paste the information from the sender, (if not you), by use of a USB Thumb Drive if so equipped.

If you receive an ARC 213 and need to REPLY, the message CANNOT be replied to from the viewed HTML as the entry boxes are locked. If needed you may print the inbound ARC 213 for delivery to obtain a response that can be typed in by you. Or obtain a plain text Reply from a USB Thumb Drive.

To create the Reply 213 go to the message, double click the 213 in question and use the REPLY tab at the top. Now you may enter the response into the Reply box or copy and paste the response in. Then SUBMIT the completed ICS213 for Outbox posting.

Notes:

A copy of the ARC S213 should be sent to and maintained within the Documentation Unit. A copy of all your Express traffic is in your Sent Items folder. You may wish to create a Personal Folder for the event and move your desired traffic into it. Winlink Express has an Export/Import feature so you can save this folder on your desktop or elsewhere if desired. You can even send the folder to another Express user for them to import.

More Information

You can save your completed form data to a text file. This will allow you to reload the ARC 213 with ALL entered form data. You do this prior to submitting the form. Then you can open a new 213 and load the saved HTML form data. NOTE: Date and Times will be the previous entered, so change if needed. This is much like using FireFox and the addon Formlet. It will save the info as a text file with the Date and Time as a file name. Now you can use any browser, save your form (as many versions as you like), and then re-populate.

Remember this template has two parts, the "INITIAL" template and the "REPLY" template. You can save either HTML and the saved file names will be different. Just load the correct saved data file or the repopulated information may not be correct.