Salisbury on Cusp of Joining County Emergency Response Team

Salisbury Township Commissioners will decide at its Thursday night meeting whether the township will join the Lehigh County Municipal Emergency Response Team (MERT).

Township commissioners have had this item on their rader since 2012, but have been careful to see that the township's legal rights are preserved in any agreement they might sign.

The county MERT has more than 50 members in the following units: Communications, Hostage Negotiation Team, Oversight Committee Members, Tactical EMS, Tactical Dispatchers and Tactical Team Members, according to the Lehigh County web site. 

The team can be activated for a variety of reasons – when individuals have barricaded themselves in structures and threatened to harm themselves and others, when a suspect is holding someone hostage and when police are serving high-risk search warrants.

At this time, the commissioners' workshop meeting -- which follows the regular meeting, will include a discussion about goal setting and membership in the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Commissioners.