Amateur radio operators get prepared

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GARDEN CITY, GA (WTOC) - Many times, when disaster strikes, there's one group of people emergency responders count on.

And today, the Amateur Ham Radio Operators Club of Savannah took part in an emergency preparedness exercise at the National Guard Pavilion in Garden City.

The group set up radios and antennas, using them to contact as many stations as they could.

The ham radio operators help make sure police, fire, and EMS have all the communications they need in an emergency.

"We're available after the disaster," Andy Blackburn explained. "Of course, we would evacuate if our lives were at risk, but once it was over we'd come back. We come back and if there's no communication infastructure anything like that we maybe called on to provide supplemental communications until they can get regular communications back on line. "

This training lasted 24 hours straight. The group ran everything off of battery power.