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The Blair County Department of Emergency Services hopes to supplement its ability to deal with disasters by persuading businesses and religious and community groups -- along with individuals -- to commit to helping professional responders, when the professional response to a disaster is insufficient.
The effort is in its infancy, but Emergency Management Director Mark Taylor hopes to make the necessary arrangements this year, he said Thursday after a meeting of the Local Emergency Planning Committee.
Securing the volunteer commitments will add community "resilience," Taylor said.
The recruitment of groups is a separate initiative from the recruitment of individuals, according to Taylor.
It's hard to know what his department -- and the first responder agencies in the county -- might need from the business and other groups after a disaster, such as a flood or windstorm, he said.
But lumber is one potential necessity, he said.
A prior agreement with home improvement businesses in the county could help alleviate concern about the availability of that commodity, if a large amount were needed quickly, he said.
A prior agreement with the area's large convenience store chains could help alleviate concerns about the availability of various other products that could be needed quickly and in large quantities during a disaster, according to Taylor.
The groups that Taylor plans to recruit would complement groups that traditionally help during disasters, like the Salvation Army and the Red Cross, Taylor said.
The recruitment of individual volunteers to help in disasters would constitute a revival of a program that faded away several years ago, due to COVID and a new requirement for drug testing, according to Taylor.
That is the county's Community Emergency Response Team, Taylor said.
"Neighbors helping neighbors," he said. "If emergency services are overtaxed, (members of the team) can do things until police, fire and EMS are freed up to help."
Nationally, the CERT program "educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may occur where they live," according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency website.
The program trains volunteers in fundamental response skills like fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations, according to the website.
The program includes basic training and can involve independent study, leadership education and drills and exercises, according to the website.
So far, Taylor's initiatives have consisted mainly of "feelers," the director said.
Organizational meetings will follow.