PSEs are a wonderfully fun excuse to get out of the house and into the field to practice our craft and exercise our equipment and gear. And, we get to provide a valuable (and much appreciated) service to worthy organizations such as the National MS Society, Parent Child Resource Center, Paul Newmans' Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, American Diabetes Association, just to name a few.

Our focus this year in Region 2 is to improve the experience of our ARES Public Service Event (PSE) volunteers by using these events as practical, low stress, training opportunities to help our volunteers:
1) Work on using standardized communication procedures with:
- 'Net Etiquette'.
- Correct use of Tactical Callsigns with Amateur Radio Callsigns
- Reducing unnecessary "chatter".

2) Start thinking “outside the box”, and begin to consider:
- How what is done in a PSE actually relates to Real World ARES scenarios.
- Evaluate the actual performance of their equipment in the field.
- Gearing-up for actual deployments by building-up their personal “Grab ‘n Go” Gear with: an ARES Deployment Vest & Hat, “Go Box”, “Go Kit”, and “Go Bag”

BOTTOM LINE
If we treat PSEs as just a casual ‘walk in the park’, and not a subtle training exercise with the opportunity to (a) evaluate our effectiveness (skills and equipment) and, (b) make adjustments and improvements where needed, then we are doing ourselves or our fellow ARES Team members a huge disservice.