About ECRIN:
ECRIN (Evacuating County Residents In Need) is a free, voluntary, community outreach service to assist elected officials and emergency responders in municipalities across York County in obtaining important information on special needs residents living in their communities.
ECRIN also assists residents by ensuring that all emergency response units (fire, police, EMA, etc) have access to the same information about each person -- thus decreasing confusion during an emergency situation. This standardized information decreases safety risks to both responders and residents in emergency situations.
The system is entirely voluntary -- elected officials in each municipality determine whether they want to participate, and residents signing up for the service must also sign a form.
Under state law, municipalities are required to keep information on special needs persons in their area, and ECRIN provides an organized system to do so.
ECRIN can be used for more than just evacuation purposes -- the information it provides is also hepful in any emergency situation (fire, chemical spill, police incident, etc).
The ECRIN program consists of a paper resident sign-up sheet, an excel spreadsheet for municipal use (where the resident data is entered to provide an electronic copy), as well as a GIS (Geospatial Information System, or, digital mapping) mapping program for the municipality, which is accessed using a free, download-able mapping utility. The mapping portion of the program allows emergency responders to quickly view the area in question and gather basic, non-identifying information on special needs folks in that area.
Return to the top of the page
Contact ECRIN:
If you have questions, comments, or concerns about ECRIN, please use the contact information below:
|
Kelly Blechertas
York County Human Services
100 West Market Street, Suite 401
York Pennsylvania 17401
(717) 771-9347
kablechertas@york-county.org
|
Mike Fetrow
Office of Emergency Management
120 Davies Drive
York Pennsylvania 17402
(717) 840-2990
mlfetrow@york-county.org
|
Return to the top of the page
Forms & Documents:
The following documents should assist you in learning more about ECRIN, as well as implementing the program in your local municipality.
ECRIN Resident Sign-Up Forms
English Version
Spanish Version
"What Is ECRIN?" Pamphlets
English Version - Municipal/Professional Pamphlet
English Version - Resident/Citizen Pamphlet
Spanish Version
Special Secure Corps-Produced Resident Pamphlet
Municipal ECRIN Documents
ECRIN Implementation Plan
ECRIN GIS Agreement (to be signed before ECRIN map can be returned to the municipality for use)
Return to the top of the page
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
1. Is there an implementation plan for ECRIN? Where can I find it?
2. What is the 'ECRIN GIS Agreement'? Where can I find that document?
3. What should I do after I've collected paper copies of the ECRIN Resident Sign-Up Form?
4. Where do I get the Excel form?
5. Will County staff enter my resident information into the required Excel spreadsheet for me?
6. The first block of the required Excel spreadsheet asks for an ECRIN ID Municipal Number -- how do I fill that in?
7. In the Township/City/Borough field on the required Excel spreadsheet, do I put the municipality name or the mailing address? (Ex: Mailing address is York -- municipality is Manchester)
8. How many resident sign-up sheets should I collect before having maps created?
9. Who updates the ECRIN resident information?
10. How often should ECRIN information be updated?
11. How do I get an ECRIN map created?
12. How do I get help with ECRIN?
13. How do municipalities get residents to sign up? How do they advertise the program?
Is there an implementation plan for ECRIN? Where can I find it?: Please refer to the Implementation Plan document that is linked. The implementation plan details the events of each stage. Please note, we are currently in Phase III of the implementation.
Return to top of FAQ
What is the 'ECRIN GIS Agreement'? Where can I find that document?: Please refer to the ECRIN GIS Agreement document that is linked. The ECRIN GIS Agreement is a required document that must be signed by your municipality's elected official prior to the ECRIN Technology Committee creating your intial ECRIN GIS map. This document provides security for the uses of the data contained in the ECRIN map.
Return to top of FAQ
What should I do after I've collected paper copies of the ECRIN Resident Sign-Up Form?: Once you've received copies of the ECRIN Resident Sign-Up Form, your municipality will need to type that information into the required Excel spreadsheet that was distributed to each municipality. Once your data is typed into the Excel spreadsheet, you can begin the process for having your ECRIN data mapped.
Return to top of FAQ
Where do I get the Excel form?: The required Excel form was made available to municipalities during a meeting for Emergency Responders and Elected Officials in November 2007, by Emergency Management and Human Services. If your municipality does not have a copy of the required Excel form, you may use the following contact information to receive it:
Email: ECRIN@york-county.org / kablechertas@york-county.org
Phone: Kelly Blechertas, York County Human Services, (717) 771-9347
Return to top of FAQ
Will County staff enter my resident information into the required Excel spreadsheet for me?: No. It is the municipality's responsibility to enter resident data from the paper sign-up sheet, to the required Excel spreadsheet.
Return to top of FAQ
The first block of the required Excel spreadsheet asks for an ECRIN ID Municipal Number -- how do I fill that in?: Please refer to the Municipal Codes information. Find your muncipality name, and then enter the two-digit code for your municipality in the "ECRIN ID Municipal Number" field. Please make sure you choose the code associated with your municipality's name -- NOT the mailing address of your citizens! (Ex: Mailing address is York, PA -- but municipality is West Manchester Township. Choose West Manchester Township's code.)
Return to top of FAQ
In the Township/City/Borough field on the required Excel spreadsheet, do I put the municipality name or the mailing address? (Ex: Mailing address is York -- municipality is Manchester): The Township/City/borough field should reflect your mailing address (Ex: citizen living in Manchester Township still has a mailing address of York -- put York in this field)
Return to top of FAQ
How many resident sign-up sheets should I collect before having maps created?: The answer to this is at the discretion of each municipality -- there is no set amount of residents required to have maps created.
Return to top of FAQ
Who updates the ECRIN resident information?: Updates are the responsibility of each municipality. How information is updated (phone calls to participating residents, advertisements in newsletters or at community events, mailings) is also up to the individual municipalities.
Return to top of FAQ
How often should ECRIN information be updated?: This is at the discretion of the municipality. Some municipalities may do it once every six months, while others may prefer to do it once a year.
Return to top of FAQ
How do I get an ECRIN map created?: Once you feel you have collected enough resident sign up sheets, have entered all of your resident data into the Excel spreadsheet, and have had your elected official sign the GIS Agreement you can use the following contact information to begin the mapping process:
Email: ECRIN@york-county.org / kablechertas@york-county.org
Phone: Kelly Blechertas, York County Human Services, (717) 771-9347
Return to top of FAQ
How do I get help with ECRIN?: Please use the following contact information if you have questions about any part of the ECRIN process:
Email: ECRIN@york-county.org / kablechertas@york-county.org
Phone: Kelly Blechertas, York County Human Services, (717) 771-9347
Mailing: York County Human Services, 100 West Market Street, Suite 401, York, PA 17401
Return to top of FAQ
How do municipalities get residents to sign up? How do they advertise the program?: Several municipalities have published the ECRIN form and information on the program, in their semi-annual newsletters (York City, West Manchester Township, Dillsburg Borough, and Manchester Township, to name a few), while others have done mailing inserts with the annual tax bill (West York Borough), or published information about it in the local newspapers (Yoe Borough). Some municipalities are also planning on advertising the program at community events.
To date, the mailing included in the annual tax bill seems to have generated the most responses.
Return to top of FAQ
Return to the top of the page