Thus far, since the creation of the CART team, there have been two needs, including a fire that occurred on Bellaire Lane, as well as a fire on Morris Road.
Tim Schuck, Upper Dublin Township’s fire marshal and fire services administrator, spoke to the Upper Dublin Board of Commissioners during Tuesday’s meeting to present the Community Action Response Team, known as “CART.”
“This is a team of township employees we put together to respond to different types of emergencies,” said Schuck. “We aim to assist the residents in their time of need with the resources they need and hold their hand and help them through the emergency.”
The fire marshal explained that the work is not done by him alone, but rather a team effort.
“It’s been a collaboration between myself, as the fire marshal, emergency management, and the police department,” said Schuck. “On the fire side, oftentimes, when I am out on a fire investigation, I would also assist the residents in getting their insurance started, file with them, make sure they have a place to go, and it was a lot to handle.”
He said he was not alone in observing this need for those facing struggles in times of emergency.
“The police run across the same thing, often,” he said. After the need was dually noted in the third and fourth quarters of 2022, the fire and police units opted to work together to find solutions and “better serve the residents of the community,” according to Schuck.
After some meetings between the departments, the teams noted that Horsham Township had a similar management concept already in place.
“It’s one individual that goes out and meets with fire victims, or victims in need,” he said. “We wanted to develop a little better what Horsham has. There is nobody else in the area that is doing this.”
Soon, the Upper Dublin employees put together a CART team, “putting together a lot of resources” in a guide. The team currently includes Tim Schuck, coordinator; Cpl. David Madrak, police department/co-coordinator; Molly Kane, library; Linda Brink, parks and recreation; and local chaplains, spiritual and religious support, with the hope to add more personnel in the future.
Both Schuck and Madrak, as coordinators, handle the actual response with those in need. Due to workman’s compensation regulations, the township’s pre-existing staff was selected to handle the duties. Volunteers, at this time, are not covered and thus, for legal purposes, the township’s employees will handle the CART duties.
“We’re going to keep it in-house for now, until we further develop this,” said Schuck.
One of the first actions of the CART team was to put together what Schuck calls a “go bag.”
“Everybody on the team has this prepared with a vest, a headlamp, a charging bank, so we can assist them if a telephone needs charging, a notepad, a manual we’ve put together, and a list of resources,” said Schuck of the bag’s contents. “Each of the team members carries this either in their vehicles or at their desk, so they have it ready at the go, whenever.”
Some examples of the usage of the CART response team include evacuations, fire, safety-related issues, such as code enforcement, law enforcement, or utility problems, as well as weather-related events.
“We are there to assist them and help them through a time of crisis, and walk them through the process,” said Schuck. “A lot of times in the time of crisis, people aren’t thinking about what they should be doing and are not thinking long-term. Sometimes some of the wrong people get involved trying to assist. We try to intervene and this team will then get them in the right direction, get them the right help, and help them through the beginning stages, and then follow up with them.”
Schuck said that he alerts CART team members into action if he is out on calls or sees the need. He calls a team member to respond to the scene if such a need is detected. Alternatively, the police department may also indicate a need for action.
“A supervisor that is on duty that night [makes a note], and the contact is a response,” said Schuck. “It’s not that we automatically respond them out; they come as needed, as we see a family or an individual that is in a time of crisis.”
Thus far, since the creation of the CART team, there have been two needs, including a fire that occurred on Bellaire Lane, as well as a fire on Morris Road. In the Bellaire fire, two individuals lost their lives, as well as a family pet.
“We didn’t activate the whole team, but we brought in the chaplains who dealt with the family,” said Schuck. “They helped them through that time of need.”
For example, a May fire on Morris Road left a family without a home.
“The family needed housing,” said Schuck. “They needed assistance with getting their medication. They also lost a pet in that fire, and we had Linda Brink come out. She spent a couple of hours with them, just more or less holding their hands, listening to them.”
Schuck said this compassion during such a difficult time was helpful.
“The homeowners were quite upset that their dog had perished,” he said. “The husband had tried himself getting back into the house to get the dog when he discovered the fire, and he was just devastated that they lost this puppy.”
After spending time with Brink, the family was grateful for a helping hand. The same fire brought an individual to the scene of the fire who was offering board up services.
“These people just show up and try to get the homeowner to sign some paperwork so the company could take over the project of getting them back to normal,” said Schuck, who noted Brink was able to intervene with the salesperson and told them not to sign anything until the township’s emergency services could be contacted.
“She even had to get a police officer involved to have this person stop harassing them,” said Schuck, who was later able to recommend an organization the township has worked with for years, requiring far less paperwork and follow-up.
He said that Brink was able to call the family a day after the event, and a week later, to be sure they were still doing OK.
“It is just nice for those individuals to know that the township was there to support them, and that we care about our residents of our township,” he said.
From involving friends and family nearby, to seeking clothing, food, medications, or Red Cross assistance, the CART team has a full guide of resources ready for those enduring crises in Upper Dublin. The take-along guide offers resources for the victims, including who to contact for important paperwork, insurance information, and other helpful sources for them, long after the flashing lights of fire trucks and police cars drive away.
