Chris Grim is looking for people in Whitehall and Coplay who want to help their neighbors.

Grim, who has been Whitehall Township's volunteer emergency management coordinator for about six months, spoke to the Whitehall Township Crime Watch Feb. 25 about his vision.

Currently, the township's emergency management agency includes three volunteers – Grim and deputies Ann Freman and Josh Smith. Grim is looking for more volunteers in order to form a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Whitehall's Emergency Management Agency will coordinate the team, which will serve both municipalities.

"You don't have to go out to scenes," he said. "A lot of it is behind the scenes, planning and getting things organized beforehand."

The township has had some form of emergency management since the 1960s when it was called "civil defense," he said.

The former civil defense bunker still serves as a command center when needed.

"The mayor [Edward D. Hozza Jr.] refers to it as the bomb shelter in the basement. At one point, it was built for a bomb shelter," said Grim.

"We still have some facilities down there we use for larger incidents that happen within the township. During Hurricane Sandy, the mayor and I were down there keeping track of fire calls, road closures, things like that," he said. "We plan, respond and do damage reports afterward."

After the hurricane, for example, Grim and other volunteers visited township homes to assess how many were damaged and how extensive the damage was.

"That's how the county submits to the state to submit to the federal government for reimbursement," he said, explaining that the volunteers don't do cost estimates or get into specific details.

The first CERT team appeared in the late 1980s in Los Angeles and teams have since spread across the country. The concept grew after the terrorist attacks of 9-11.

"You had many people come out that wanted to help. What they did was organize the CERT teams. You're not firemen, you're not rescue personnel but you might help out with that," Grim said.

In the event of a disaster, if the fire department was overwhelmed, the CERT members would help with basic fire extinguishing or basic first aid.

The team would also be involved in establishing shelters. The Red Cross approves buildings for use as shelters according to strict criteria. For example, shelters must have cooking facilities and bathrooms for both genders.

Whitehall High School is a local shelter approved by the Red Cross, Grim said.

The problem with getting more locations approved as shelters has to do with cuts at the Red Cross location in Bethlehem. That location used to handle only Northampton and Lehigh counties but now handles a total of 12 counties with no additional staff.

"They're getting short on manpower and that's one of the reasons I really thought the CERT team might be a good idea," Grim said.

The local agency could open limited shelters with cots and blankets just for Whitehall residents. This would allow the township to be more self sufficient and allow Whitehall residents to have use of emergency facilities instead of competing with people from all over the Valley for use of limited facilities.

Hozza said having enough shelter facilities is not the only challenge officials face.

"What we found with the power outage [following Hurricane Sandy] was that we couldn't get seniors to leave their homes. They insisted on staying in a home with no heat, he said, adding that local government officials don't have the power to order people out of their homes. Such an order would have to come from the state governor," Hozza said.

Plans do exist to move people out of the area in the event of a major disaster, Hozza said. Likewise, plans exist to move people from other places to the Lehigh Valley and Whitehall if necessary.

"We are an evacuation site for New York City," Hozza said. "There's plans in place for that."

Grim said 13 people attended an informational meeting Feb. 26. Room is still available for others who want to participate.

CERT training involves a 16-hour course. Most likely the training will take place in two four-hour segments during the week and one eight-hour segment on a Saturday at the Whitehall Fire Department Training Center, Grim said.

Anyone interested in getting involved with the emergency management group or becoming part of a CERT team can contact Grim at cgrim@whitehalltownship.org or call him at 610-437-5524, ext. 121.