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East Harris County Manufacturers Association

CAER Line

EHCMA established the "Community Awareness and Emergency Response" Line (or CAER Line) in 1986 as a free public service.  

The CAER Line's mission is two-fold:

1.    To serve as a source of information about emergency response incidents at member facilities or off-site transportation incidents (such as a tanker truck, rail car, pipeline, or marine vessel) that may impact the community,

2.    To act as a central clearinghouse and referral source for inquiries about member facilities and other CAER Line Users (such as local offices of emergency management and non-EHCMA member facilities).

Callers who dial 281-476-2237 (CAER) -- or who dial 281-476-2273 (CARE) -- will hear an interactive menu offering several information choices to choose from:

Emergency Information

 Reports about incidents where emergency response actions are underway, involving an explosion, fire, or chemical release producing smoke, fumes, odors or noise that the public can see, smell, or hear, or may require public protective actions (such as evacuation or shelter-in-place)
General Information Reports about minor incidents confined inside a plant's boundaries or non-emergency events such as routine flaring due to maintenance, nuisance odors, siren tests, drills, exercises or firefighter training that do NOT require public protective actions.
Spanish Information Reports in Spanish providing either emergency or general information messages from plants located in communities with high Hispanic populations or with large numbers of Spanish-speaking personnel.
Odor Network Connect to a 24-hour Dispatch Center to report any unusual or unpleasant odor within an EHCMA Outreach Area.  The Dispatch Center will document your report, try to identify the source, and call you back within two (2) hours.

Emergency messages are played first on the CAER Line, regardless of the geographic area involved, followed by General Information messages.   The latest, most recently recorded message is the first message heard.  You can "fast forward" or skip past any message by pressing the Star (*) key.

EHCMA encourages each CAER Line member facility or agency to place a message on the CAER Line as quickly as possible, ideally in less than 15 minutes of an incident occurring at their facility or off-site transportation incident scene.

For more information about the CAER Line or to obtain a Application Form to become a CAER Line member, please visit our Contact Us page

CAER Line members can contact EHCMA to obtain:

  • Word version of the latest "CAER Line User's Guide" to train your personnel
  • Adobe Acrobat version of the "CAER Line Wallet Card" to give your personnel
  • DVD or VHS copy of the "CAER Line Training Video"
  • CD with sample ads, artwork, fact sheet, employee memo, news release, public service announcement, and telephone stickers with the CAER Line logo.