Mutual Aid
The mission of the Massachusetts Highway Association (MHA) Mutual Aid Program is to enable rapid, coordinated emergency response by local Public Works departments across the Commonwealth when an incident exceeds the resources of an individual community. The program provides scalable support—from localized events to statewide emergencies—and leverages modern GIS-based technology to manage mutual aid efficiently.
History
Mutual Aid among Public Works departments began informally, with towns assisting neighbors during floods, tornadoes, and winter storms. Without a structured framework, early responses sometimes led to duplication of effort and delayed support. In Massachusetts there was no legal mechanism to allow a community to volunteer to assist in other communities in case of an emergency. In 2008 the Massachusetts Highway Association recognized the need for a organized mutual aid system which had the backing of the state legislature, similar to police and fire mutual aid agreements. MHA worked with MEMA, MassDOT, and state legislators to draft the necessary legislation and design a program for public works mutual aid.
State legislation for public works mutual aid was approved in 2014 and became part of MGL Chapter 40.