Whitehall Township Fire Department, in seeking to better serve residents in an efficient manner, recently launched Community Connect. The initiative, through First Due, allows residents and businesses to create a profile to keep the department updated on important information.

“Community Connect is a free, secure and easy-to-use platform that allows you to share critical information about your household that will aid first responders and emergency response personnel when responding to your residence,” Fire Chief David Nelson said. “By providing information about your household that you feel is important for us to know about at the time of an emergency, we can ensure you and everything you care about is protected to the best of our ability.”

“The idea behind this is so the fire department can connect with the township residents, with anything that they feel is important and anything the fire department needs to know about, such as special-needs persons, pets, contact numbers and so on,” said Mark Bilder, deputy fire marshal for the fire department.

Bilder reported the department started working on this program in December 2020.

Some of the details the department is seeking are information about the property such as residence type, family meeting places and whether or not the property has sprinklers. Reportedly, it is easy to change your information and edit your address if you move.

Information on pets is also asked for in the profile, so the department knows there are animals needing evacuation and how best to handle them during an incident. You can even include a photo, so the department can better spot them in case of emergency.

Another part of the profile includes your people and contacts. The department is also looking for information about whether or not the residents will need assistance getting out of the house in case of an emergency.

“Your contacts can help us with everything from access, how to deal with potential hazards and to locate occupants,” according to the Community Connect website. “Getting in touch helps us better communicate at the time when it’s needed most.”

According to a news release from the fire department, designated contacts will receive immediate alerts via text message when first responders are dispatched to the building address.

“Community Connect is completely voluntary, and residents are individually able to decide which information they are comfortable sharing,” the news release states.

According to the website, each profile is connected to both a specific street address and email address. Using a personal email for a residence and a work email for a business allows township residents to have both types of profiles.

There is even a space in Community Connect to self report COVID-19-related information. This will help the first responders to be even better prepared for the ongoing fight against the virus. Everyone is asked to self report, including those who are asymptomatic or who tested negative.

“It is important for everyone to report regardless of age, health or suspicion of infection,” the website says.

The website assures residents the data and information shared on Community Connect is secure and only used to help first responders in emergency situations.

“All logins are password protected with bank-level encryption and security,” the website says.

This security includes a 256-bit encryption that is only accessible to first responders. The information can only be accessed in the application first responders use to view the calls received from dispatch.

According to Bilder, First Due is the company the department already uses for the information it receives on iPads with important information regarding an emergency. This is just taking that information to the next level, with help from the community.

First Due is a software partner for some of the largest emergency service organizations, according to the website.

“We’re passionate about ensuring public safety agencies can take a giant leap forward in how information is used to plan for incidents, increase survivability and de-risk communities,” the website says. “By delivering a platform for collaboration and sharing, we are bridging the deadly information gap end to end, always keeping in mind the way first responders and emergency managers work today.”

For more information or to create your profile, visit communityconnect.io/info/pa-whitehall.