The Need for Rapid Damage Assessment in the City of ...

Damage Assessment 1

Running heading: RAPID DAMAGE ASSESSMENT NEEDS FOR WILMINGTON The Need for Rapid Damage Assessment in the City of Wilmington Delaware

Todd A. Reese

Wilmington Fire Department

Wilmington, Delaware

Damage Assessment 2

Certification Statement

I hereby certify that this paper constitutes my own product, that where the Language of

others is set forth quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is given where I have

used the language, ideas, expressions, or writings of another.

I gained assistance in accessing City of Wilmington Emergency Plans and State of

Delaware Emergency Plans from the Office of Emergency Management City of Wilmington,

Delaware.

Signed: ___________________________ Todd A. Reese

Damage Assessment 3

Abstract

The City of Wilmington, Delaware, while having a comprehensive all hazards plan, lacked a

program for conducting rapid damage assessment after a large scale disaster or incident. Faced

with this problem the Emergency Management Office and Fire Department could not effectively

address the needs of the community and assign resources required to mitigate a major incident

effectively after it occurred in the city.

The purpose of this research was to apply action-based research to explore and develop a system

that will provide the City of Wilmington with a rapid damage assessment program that met the

needs of the city.

This fire officer determined the following three questions:

(a) Why there is a need for rapid damage assessment in the City of Wilmington?

(b) What the standard is that other communities and agencies use for rapid damage

assessment?

(c) What system will work best in the City of Wilmington?

To these questions this fire officer scribe researched writings in the form of textbooks, periodical

articles, electronic sources and other damage assessment programs utilized by other jurisdictions

and by conducting electronic interviews and a survey on rapid damage assessment.

The resultant research indicated the need for a comprehensible and workable rapid damage

assessment program. Based on additional findings and conclusions of the research it is clear that

a rapid damage assessment program will provide the baseline for effective resource management

and mitigation efforts in the community providing a basis for the financial impact and

infrastructure damage to allow for sustainability in the community after the incident occurs.

Based on these findings this fire officer scribe explored and developed a Standard Operational

Damage Assessment 4

Procedure for the City of Wilmington to conduct rapid damage assessment efficiently and

effectively with the resources on hand for the City of Wilmington Delaware.

Damage Assessment 5

Table of Contents

Certification Statement……………………………………………………………………………2

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………3

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..6

Background and Significance……………………………………………………………………..7

Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………8

Procedures……………………………………………………………………………………….15

Results……………………………………………………………………………………………16

Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..20

Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………..23

References………………………………………………………………………………………..25

Appendices

Appendix A - Electronic Interview, Jamie Turner, State of Delaware..........................................27

Appendix B - Electronic Interview - George Giles, City of Wilmington………………………..30

Appendix C - Electronic Interview, Willie Patrick, Jr, Fire Chief, Wilmington, DE………….,..31

Appendix D - Windshield Damage Assessment Survey…………………………………………33

Appendix E - Wilmington Fire Department Standard Operational Procedure Damage

Assessment……………………………………………………………………….36

Appendix F - City of Wilmington, Office of Emergency Management…………………………37

Appendix G - Office of Emergency Management, City of Wilmington, Rapid Damage

Assessment Form………………………………………………………………...38

Damage Assessment 6

Introduction

Why does the City of Wilmington, Delaware, need a rapid damage assessment policy?

Having limited on-duty resources on hand for a sudden disaster, the fire department and other

city departments that are needed to mitigate a large incident need to be deployed in a manner that

is the most effective. Even with warning of a pending disaster and with sufficient resources ready

to be deployed an assessment of the aftermath is still needed in order to be the most effective in

mitigating the incident. Damage assessment will also aid in the recovery effort as it is the first

step in determining the impact such disasters or large scale incidents have on a community and

what will be needed to sustain day-to-day operations and restore itself back to the pre-disaster

state. Currently, our city is deficient in the area of conducting rapid damage assessment. No

written policy is in place and that is the reason that this researcher took on an action-based

approach to solve the problem faced by the lack of a formal plan to assess damage.

As stated, the action-based research method was used to research and develop a plan for

rapid damage assessment in the City of Wilmington, Delaware. The research questions used to

direct the study were:

(a) Why is there a need for rapid damage assessment in the City of Wilmington?

(b) What is the standard other communities and agencies use for rapid damage

assessment?


The information retrieved during the research will point out the need for the rapid

damage assessment policy and support the fire departments customer-based service beliefs. It

will also allow for a measurable tool to allocate resources to the areas most in need of assistance

Damage Assessment 7

to mitigate an incident that has occurred by prioritizing needs, as well as response capabilities,

that may exceed the available levels at the local government sector.

Background and Significance

The Wilmington Fire Department (WFD) is the only fully career municipal department in

the State of Delaware, tracing its beginnings to 1775 when the first volunteer company was

formed, the Friendship Fire Company #1( Malloy 1995). Currently, the department has 160

uniformed members and five civilian staff. The WFD is a full-service fire department. It is

separated into two divisions--suppression and fire prevention; it is headed by the chief of fire and

a deputy in charge of each division. The WFD operates 4 engine companies, 2 ladder companies,

and 2 squad companies, which are engines with rescue capability supported by special operation

vehicles. The squad concept was a result of the closing of the cities heavy rescue company. Two

battalion chiefs are assigned to each of the four platoons that work a 24 on, 72 off schedule. In

addition to the land based companies, the WFD also operates a marine fire/rescue unit. Like

many cities across the country, the WFD places one engine company out of service whenever

any overtime is called for to reduce overtime and control cost. Ambulance service is provided by

a third party contractor, although the WFD does operate a first responder program to medical

calls. New Castle County provides advanced life support.

The fact that we are a smaller department than before enforces the need for good resource

allocation in large incidents. The city itself is 15.67 square miles and encompasses portions of

the Delaware River along with exceptional and distinct residential neighborhoods. The

population based on pre-2010 census reports were 72,664 residents and a daytime Monday to

Friday population of 114,000. The city is home to the A.I. DuPont Company and the Hercules

Company, an off-shoot of DuPont Company. It is also home to many credit card and banking

Damage Assessment 8

institutions that find the corporate-friendly climate of the state attractive. In addition, it has the

the Port of Wilmington, which is home to the Dole Fruit Company and many other import and

export companies. Prior to World War II, Wilmington was home to shipbuilding and many

leather tanning factories and train building facilities as well as automobile manufacturers.

In 2010, the department responded to 18,163 calls for services. Over 80% were medical

in nature. This is an increase of 639 total calls for service with fewer resources available. With

these facts in mind and in keeping with the United States Fire Administration Strategic Plan

2010-2014 Goal #3--improve the fire and emergency services capability for response and

recovery from all hazards, one can see the importance of a formal damage assessment program

and its benefits to the City of Wilmington. The Executive Analysis of Fire Service Operations in

Emergency Management Course clearly stressed the role of damage assessment in the courses

practical exercises when deploying and requesting needed resources to respond to incidents that

were simulated and how it would transfer to real life situations back at home, as damage

assessment the starting point to incident stabilization.

Literature Review

While in the pursuit of written research material and given time to process all the

information available on this subject, this fire officer scribe recalled a college text on public

sector management. Starling Grover (2002) writes in order to develop a contingency plan,

administrators must identify uncontrollable factors and then decide how to minimize the effects

once they occur. Disaster planning is a form of contingency planning. As it allows organizations

to operate successfully in its environment it also allows agencies to define it missions and

desired outcomes, align activities and resources to produce measurable performance that is

desired. It was this text that set the stage for the need to assess a disaster's effect on a community

Damage Assessment 9

and get a coordinated response from the responding agencies. Much has been penned about fire

ground strategies. Avillo (2002) denotes that the incident commander must establish an incident

command organization that is directly proportional to the emergency at hand. In this fire officer

scribes mind, this is based on the effectiveness of rapid damage assessment and its information

provided to be able to assist in determining the size of the command structure based on the

National Incident Management System to handle the disaster or incident at hand--a concept that

is relative throughout the Executive Analysis of Fire Service Operations in Emergency

Management Course and this research.

Damage assessment in the private sector was also researched. It yielded the following

results: “All human activity is best by uncertainty” Taylor (2009). Taylor (2009) wrote based on

this thought what will happen and how people will react to events are essentially unknown

variables. However, organizations can safely plan for many contingencies in part because of

similar past experiences and that many situations follow relatively similar patterns in the way

they develop and their outcomes. Predictable threats according to Taylor (2009) can be assessed

in advance and a set of responses and damage assessment measures may be worked out before an

incident happens. The organizations ability to function in the aftermath of an incident will be

based on an assessment by the disaster management team, i.e., a damage assessment report.

Similar to the public sector in many ways, it will allow private sector companies to function and

regain normalcy in a quicker period of time similar to that of a government entity and its need to

function after an incident.

In the Manager’s Guide to Contingency Planning for Disaster’s 2nd edition Myers (1999)

notes how businesses in the private arena grow more aware of the need to provide some level of

protection against unplanned disaster. “Management needs to know how to structure a strategic

Damage Assessment 10

planning process for business continuity and maintain its viability” Myers (1999). Six elements

are key to this:

1. Notification to employees and customers.

2. Damage assessment.

3. Rerouting phone calls.

4. Restoring computer facilities.

5. Physical security.

6. Relocation of personnel.

Right after a disaster is the emergency response period, in which several issues need

attention. What guides this are the damage assessment team and its evaluation of the situation

and the long range strategy for restoring normal operations. This text, written before the

Presidential Mandate Homeland Security Presidential Directive-8 was drafted, seems to be in

line with the interoperability of the stakeholders involved to plan and respond to disasters both in

the public and private realms. A contingency planning policy strategy is, as Myers quotes, “The

key to containing costs and completing the project on time." It also should be based on what-if

worse case scenarios. Again, this mirrors emergency planning and damage assessment roles in

the public sector. It will also allow managers to deal with less serious incidents based on

experience.

In the public sector, the term disaster assessment refers to the survey and information

collection activities carried out to determine the impact of the disaster. In the book Disaster

Assessment, Cuny (1987) pens that this assessment is carried out in several stages with the

immediate reconnaissance being first, aka: rapid damage assessment, which paints the overview

of the damage incurred and can guide the emergency responders in search and rescue efforts and


secondary threats, as well as access to the affected area. Cuny (1987) says "The importance of

accurate assessment cannot be overstated." If poor damage assessment is done, it may lead to an

inappropriate response and costly delays. Damage assessment teams can be structured in 5

models that have become most accepted:

1. Comprehensive DAST Teams.

2. Teams of specialists

3. Use of local staff.

4. Single individual.

5. 2-person teams.

The use of local staff has advantages over the others as they are familiar with the

community and it is cost effective. A disadvantage is objectivity and the willingness to train to

do the assessment, as it is not part of the norm.

Duzzny, in an International Association of Emergency Managers Bulletin (2002),

developed a team of damage assessment folks from the Mahoning Valley Home Builders

Association. A memorandum of understanding was drawn up and training conducted. The result

was a trained professional resource to be called upon to conduct damage assessment. This all

came about through networking in the community. This was the first of its kind program in the

country. “Reflecting on what we were able to do emphasizes in each of our communities there

are resources than can be part of the emergency managers toolbox,” stated Duzzny (2002). In

another periodical from the International Association of Emergency Managers, Johnson (2002)

writes on the use of its Community Emergency Ready Teams for use in damage assessment.

Sterling Heights has made use of its technology by using forms that are downloadable under the

emergency management site. When incidents occur, each team member participant will fill out


the form as the incident occurs or as expeditiously as possible after the incident. Each person

involved in the program is trained as they meet for 2 hours each month. Wilmington, Delaware

also has Community Emergency Response Teams available to them as well for this use; let's see

if it is a viable option.

Another path of damage assessment makes use of handheld computer devices to conduct

this task. According to (Morrow) 2002, most emergency managers agree that too much time is

used to manually log information. New and cost effective wireless handheld technology can

allow for rapid transmission and receiving of information in what Morrow says “is almost real

time." This technology can now allow the emergency manager to focus on response efforts and

spend less time inputting information. Morrow (2002) has put this technology to use in

Vancouver, Canada and it has enhanced their capabilities. In The Executive Analysis of Fire

Service Operations in Emergency Management Unit 4, it clearly identifies that the immediate

damage assessment must be rapid, detailed and accurate. Damage assessment is then evaluated

and used to determine if outside assistance is needed, a critical factor in disaster mitigation

efforts. This text also included the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Damage

assessment plan (2004) that was reviewed by this fire officer scribe as a reference in

development of a damage assessment plan. In East Whiteland Township, Chief Fire Marshal Ken

Battin (2004) developed a system to cover the entire township in 1 hour after an occurrence,

using all career firefighters, fire marshals and inspectors of the township. It focused on 3

priorities: essential facilities, life safety, and infra structure. The plan itself seemed manageable

and achievable given the resources available. It was noted in City of Hubbard, OH. (n.d.), it goes

on to say a windshield survey is the initial response taken by local responders and is the first

damage assessment in event of a major disaster. It, according to the writing, will give the scope


of the disaster and where the most crucial needs are. It also directs that no emergency stops will

be made during the survey. It further reminds its citizens that there will be a period of time when

they will be on their own after a disaster occurs. This will ensure that needs for service can be

prioritized to allow for a response where the help is required most. This also reminds citizens to

have hopefully prepared a disaster kit to ensure they can manage until help is available. In the

State of Delaware Emergency Operations Plan (2009), the damage assessment team is part of the

planning and intelligence group. It defines damage assessment as the systematic process of

determining and appraising the nature and extent of loss, suffering, or harm to a community

resulting from a disaster. It further states damage assessment is crucial because of its direct

relationship to organized action by responders. In an electronic interview with Jamie Turner,

director of this agency (2011), he states “It is imperative to have a damage assessment program

such as RDA." The state does provide training in how to conduct damage assessment as well to

its responders. In an article referencing community participation in post-disaster damage

assessments from the Overseas Development Institute (2010) regarding community use in Fiji, it

points out some shortcomings using persons in the community due to several restrictions such as:

getting information for training and then providing data to the government post disaster and the

fact communities have no decision-making power on the provision of disaster response. It also

mentions the willingness of a community to want to participate in damage assessment. In the

final discussion section of the article it clearly states there are a wide range of challenges to

community participation in Fiji’s damage assessment program. Such difficulty is to be expected

in a post-disaster context. Achieving formalized community participation will not be

straightforward process. In closing, the article says part of the willingness for community

participation is based on cultural belief that post-disaster assistance is an entitlement. I strongly


see a similar thought process here in the United States when a disaster occurs and the unprepared

communities are left without a response or mitigation and recovery plan all the time waiting for

state or federal assistance. It was this closing article that really set me to thinking about the City

of Wilmington’s plan and the role the community would play in it.

In a second electronic interview with Chief Patrick/EFO Wilmington Fire Department

(Appendix C), he indicates the broad role the fire service plays now in all hazard response. He

states “The fire service has had to adapt their standards of cover to include contingencies related

to natural or man made disasters.”

Director Giles of Wilmington Office of Emergency Management (Appendix B))

indicated the need for a formalized plan at the local level for use in the City of Wilmington in his

interview; he also rated the current level of damage assessment on scale of 1-10 as a 4 right now.

It is clearly evident that there was a need for a rapid damage assessment program In Wilmington

based on the information from these interviews.

In an electronic search of https://www.bing.com, a power point presentation was

discovered from anonymous (n.d.) which provided information helpful in what estimates were

utilized in rating various forms of damage from flooding, wind, etc., to structures and roadways,

as well as other key infrastructures. It proved to be a basis for which to develop a rating system

for use by Wilmington.

Other standard operating procedures (SOPs) reviewed for damage assessment rating were

East Whiteland Township and the County of Fairfax Fire and Rescue Department. The review of

these documents allowed for creating for the city of Wilmington what seems to be an accepted

rating system of grading damage such as: affected, minor, major, or destroyed. It also gave

https://www.bing.com/�


explanations that were easily understood and user friendly for use in the field when timing is

critical to get a complete picture of what has occurred back to the emergency operations center.

Procedures

The inaugural phase of research began as most do while attending the current class,

Executive Analysis of Fire Service Operations in Emergency Management, at the National Fire

Academy in January 2011. While doing the Community Hazards Emergency

Response-Capability Assurance Process Worksheet, it became evident that there were

shortcomings at the local level in my community. While we had a written all-hazards plan, it

lacked a damage assessment program. Hence, this became my catalyst for research.

I utilized action-based research procedures. A survey was sent via e-mail to all members

of my department and other persons outside my department in other fire departments and

emergency management organizations, as well as one private industrial fire and safety chief. The

survey was sent to a total of 228 persons, although only a smaller portion was returned, even

after several attempts. However the answers were very helpful. An online company by the name

of surveymonkey.com (Appendix D) was used for this portion of research to allow for accurate

correlation of responses. I based my questions on the fact some people may have no knowledge

of what was being asked of them and those that had knowledge of damage assessment to get

quality answers for this research. I also conducted three electronic interviews with select

individuals. My first interview was done with Jamie Turner, Director of Emergency Management

for the State of Delaware; he was selected due to his position and his fire service background. It

should be noted that he responded to the interview questions from his position as the director and

not of one from the fire service. The interview was done on February 2, 2011 (Appendix A). The

second interview was with George Giles, Director of Emergency Management for the City of


Wilmington, Delaware. It was an obvious choice due to the fact that if there was a major incident

he would be responsible for coordinating a response. This interview was done March 15, 2011.

(Appendix B). My final interview was with Fire Chief Willie Patrick Jr. /EFO (Appendix C); he

was selected due to his position as fire chief and the fact that fire department personnel would be

used in the performance of damage assessment in our community or on a mutual aid basis to

other jurisdictions if needed. The interview was done on May 19, 2011. The electronic method

was chosen so the participants could respond to the interview as schedules allowed.

The purpose of the interviews was to determine the need for a rapid damage assessment

and to determine the best way to conduct it and find out the role it played in our state and local

community. The survey served several purposes: to find out how many people knew what rapid

damage assessment was, how many communities used this type assessment, as well as who

conducted it and the procedures used to gather the information.

Results

In utilizing action-based research, it became clear very early, that the need for a rapid

damage assessment program was needed and had to be developed to ensure a coordinated

response by the City of Wilmington in a large scale incident. While there was a damage

assessment procedure in place at the state level, a local level program was absent.

In conducting literature review this fire officer-scribe has become keenly aware of the

need for rapid damage not only in the emergency services sector but the private sector as well.

The public sector has adapted damage assessment to deal with the aftermath of a disaster and

ensure continuity of business similar to continuity of government during a disaster. Myers (1999)

rates damage assessment as the number 2 priority after employee and customer notification

during a disaster. The damage assessment team will give the prognosis for recovery. Myers


(1999) states “Contingency planning will help keep costs down and complete the project on time.

All of this is based on the damage assessment report. All other written pieces that were read also

pointed strongly towards the extremely important role rapid damage assessment plays in

emergency management.

The question "why is there a need for rapid damage assessment in the City of

Wilmington?" was clearly answered in the electronic interviews conducted. Chief Patrick/EFO

Wilmington Fire Department (Appendix C) responds "while the emergency management office

will play the lead role, public safety agencies i.e. fire and police departments will have a role."

He also notes that his agency responds to disasters with the resources available and that effective

damage assessment can make better use of what is available in terms of response to mitigating

the incident. In the survey results (Appendix D), 48.1% of the respondents used this form of

damage assessment, while 51.9% did not use rapid damage assessment. This indicated to me that

there is a strong awareness of the need for rapid damage assessment and the remaining 51.9%

may not have been educated in the role rapid damage assessment plays. In the text Managing the

Public Sector 6th edition Starling (2002) he supports why municipalities need a contingency plan

to identify uncontrollable factors and how to minimize their effects, and damage assessment

plays a role in this plan by aligning resources and response efforts based on the needs. In the City

of Hubbard, Ohio (n.d.), their emergency response windshield survey is the first response they

take to a major disaster. East Whiteland Township (2004) also saw the need for a rapid damage

assessment program in their municipality that is served by a combination type fire-rescue

department and addresses the role it plays based on threes priorities: essential facilities, life

safety and infra structure. The more research conducted by this fire-officer writer it became

evident of the need for a rapid damage assessment program for Wilmington. Jamie Turner,


Director of Delaware Emergency Management (Appendix A), states "failure to identify,

document and share this information will negatively impact the disaster assistance process."

In gaining insight to the question "what is the standard other communities and agencies

use for damage assessment?" a review of standard operating procedures and review of the State

of Delaware Emergency Operating Procedures (2009) gave much useful information as to team

functions. In review of one disaster plan, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (2004), a

28-page document , 6 pages are dedicated to damage assessment and policies to be used in

performing this operation. This procedure also outlined how to grade damage and what to look

for while out on the damage assessment route. In the survey (Appendix D), 61.5% of the

respondents indicated that damage assessment routes covered key facilities and infrastructures;

38.5% did not cover them. The survey also indicated that the fire service was used the most,

indicated by 79.2% of the survey participants, and 70.2% used another city agency. Surprisingly,

use of CERT teams and police agencies shared a 29.2% usage in conducting damage assessment.

That information was also key in deciding who would conduct damage assessment.

In terms of what criteria was used as to when damage assessment begins, 7 respondents

had established criteria for when damage assessment was safe to be conducted, such as wind

speed, based on determination by the incident commander. or on a case by case scenario on what

conditions exist based on the event. A majority did not have any criteria for when to begin

conducting rapid damage assessment. In an International Association Emergency Managers

Bulletin, Duzzny (2002) speaks on a trained group of building professional that are utilized for

conducting damage assessment. In a text Disaster Assessment, Cuny (1987) reviewed 5 model

concepts for damage assessment teams. His one model's use of local staff seemed to be

consistent with what was used by many agencies.


In another International Association of Emergency Managers Bulletin, Morrow (2002)

wrote on the use of handheld computers for conducting rapid damage assessment as they

transmit in real-time data and eliminate the use of paper and someone to physically write the

information at the emergency operations center. This article was written when this type of

technology was in its infancy. One short coming of mine in this research was to find out what

technology was available in Delaware to utilize after looking at this article in my literature

review.

In my final question "what system will work best in the City of Wilmington?", an

abundance of information was reviewed as to who conducts damage assessment in different

municipalities. Many utilize the fire and rescue services and other city agencies such as public

works, code enforcement and police agencies. Based on the responses (Appendix D)

of 79.2% for fire and rescue, 70% for other city agencies, and 54.2% response for public works

departments, I was able to formulate a plan for the Wilmington Office of Emergency

Management that made use of multiple departments to achieve a rapid damage assessment in the

15.67 square miles of the city (Appendix F). I also was able to develop a standard operating

procedure that is interwoven for the fire department with the Office of Emergency Management

(Appendix E). Both procedures address when it is safe for personnel to begin damage

assessment. Again, both policies mandate that a damage assessment of each department's

personnel, equipment and facilities is done first to give an accurate picture of what resources are

available in the city to handle the emergency and what resources we may need to request due to

the loss of resources as a result of damage from the event. Officers or supervisors will use the

damage assessment form provided by the office of emergency management to do this and to


conduct the assessment in their assigned area (Appendix G). The form itself was custom fitted to

some particular needs in the City of Wilmington such as: the Port of Wilmington.

Avillo (2002) writes that the incident commander must establish an incident organization

that is directly proportional to the emergency; this supports the need for a self assessment of

resources to be conducted to see what type of command structure is needed. I was also able,

based on the survey (Appendix D), to develop a response route based on census tracts in the city.

Using this allowed for an immediate count of citizens that may be affected and also the

geographical area was a manageable size for units to complete in a rapid orderly fashion and

critical facilities and infrastructures are also included in the census tract maps based on the City

of Wilmington Emergency Management Plan as such.

The text Disaster Planning, Second Edition, Taylor (2009) sums up disaster response best

“All human activity is best by uncertainty.” However, safely planning for contingencies by

organizations can help deal with a wide array of events. In ending this results section, it was

evident that a plan was needed and the research conducted overwhelmingly supported this fact

and lead to the City of Wilmington, Delaware, now having a written plan and procedure for rapid

damage assessment in an effort to enhance its response to large scale incidents and disasters,

either man-made or natural.

Discussion

After reading related literature and based on the research conducted, it was unambiguous

that Wilmington, Delaware, and its emergency response organizations would greatly benefit

from a formalized plan on rapid damage assessment. The resulting plan would allow for a

systematic approach to getting the scope of the damage and allow for a coordinated response to

mitigate the incident and lay the foundation for a disaster proclamation down the road, if needed.


by the governor or by act of the federal government. Turner (2011) in his interview states “the

information provided to governmental leaders will determine if additional assistance or actions

are required." This information initially comes from the rapid damage assessment as it is the first

picture officials get of the disaster and it needs to be accurate in order to make informed

decisions, such as resource allocation, damage extent, and the area the damage covers so they

can develop an incident action plan for an effective response. When conducting the rapid damage

assessment, the City of Hubbard, Ohio (n.d.), damage assessment survey reads: No emergency

stops will be made during this survey. I pondered this, and remember my class Executive

Analysis of Fire Service Operations in Emergency Management that dealt with the fact a clear

picture of who needs help the most cannot be decided until the rapid damage assessment is done,

also if units engage in rendering assistance, the assessment will never get done and citizens in a

more dire situation may have their need for service go unanswered. Based on this thought, it was

clear that our Community Emergency Response Teams would better serve in the first responder

roles they were originally trained for in an attempt to control issues in their neighborhoods until

other resources can be deployed. This would allow for a first aid type of approach and provide

some basic level of response to the citizens initially in the affected area(s) after the disaster

passed, as all graduates of this program are given basic emergency equipment at the course and a

suggested equipment list to have on hand to assist in an emergency. Once it was determined who

would conduct first response to the citizens needs initially while damage assessment would

occur, a viable course of action as to the need still remained in the forefront to determine what

areas teams would cover. I realized early in the research that the use of just the fire department

would take entirely too long to cover the city with the resources we have available on daily shift.

With the use of the survey (Appendix D), I was able to see and evaluate, based on responses,


what other cities and agencies used to form a multi-department response to conducting damage

assessment. In Wilmington, Delaware, this lead to our team approach which will utilize the

following city departments: fire, police, public works, parks and recreation, and license and

inspections. This will enable each agency to conduct their own survey of their resources, such as

equipment, personnel and buildings. Each department then can inspect the city’s critical sites,

pertinent to each department, to ensure that Wilmington will have the ability to operate during

and after the disaster. It will also allow the city to place a larger number of teams in the field to

perform an assessment as expeditiously as possible and allow for a rapid report of conditions. All

efforts will be coordinated by the incident command and/or the emergency operations center

when conducting damage assessment regardless of what city agency is reporting. This will allow

for a smooth system of information to flow into the emergency operations center. This will

follow Cuny’s (1987) writings that disaster assessment is a key element of successful disaster

response. This thought has remained foremost in my mind while doing this writing and has been

the overall message that is meant to be delivered as a result of the research conducted based on

the literature reviewed, survey, and interviews conducted. I was surprised that such a small but

well-worded phrase summed up the need for damage assessment in any city, not just my own. I

feel that I have successfully conveyed that theme to any reader of this research project through

the various means that were used to gather information. I also feel I have shown through this

research a secondary need as to why a damage assessment program is essential to effective

disaster management. Based on the facts amassed of the impact of an incident during damage

assessment, our city’s emergency leaders can formulate an effective and safe response plan,

based on an incident action plan derived from the rapid damage assessment reports. It also

should be noted that it will lay the foundation for an extended operational response and recovery


periods to a disaster if warranted by what has occurred, as well as aid in disaster assistance from

the state and federal entities if needed in Wilmington, Delaware.

In closing, it should be understood that the research conducted did answer the questions

posed by this fire officer researcher in the applied research proposal written in the initial steps of

the action research that was conducted. They are as listed below:

(a) Why there is a need for rapid damage assessment in the City of Wilmington?

(b) What the standard is that other communities and agencies use for rapid damage

assessment?


Recommendations

The following recommendations are based on the research conducted for future use by

the City of Wilmington Fire Department and City of Wilmington Office of Emergency

Management.

(a) Conduct training for all staff that will be conducting damage assessment for the city.

(b) Run a mock drill for a live practical exercise on the damage assessment program.

(c) Look into what technology is available for conducting damage assessment that the

city currently has access to that may aid us in how we perform damage assessment.

(d) Update and review all applicable standard operating procedures and associated forms

as needed for damage assessment to keep it current with accepted standards.

(e) Make future purchases of electronic damage assessment software and equipment if

fiscally feasible for future use. This will be especially important if no current tools are

available now in the city for use by our responders to assist and eliminate the need for

paperwork.


(f) Ensure that all persons participating in damage assessment have a basic understanding

of the National Incident Management System, so they can operate under this form of

management during an incident.


Reference List

Anonymous (n.d.) PowerPoint Damage Assessment Part 1. Retrieved May 7, 2011 from

https://www.bing.com search engine for Damage Assessment Programs.

Avillo, A. (2002) Fire Ground Strategies. Tulsa Oklahoma. Pennwell Corporation.

Cuny, F. C. (1987) Disaster Assessment. Madison Wisconsin. Disaster Management Center

University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Duzzny, W. M. (2002) Damage assessment: Who is going to do it for you? International

Association Emergency Managers. June 2002 Bulletin.

East Whiteland, Pennsylvania, Township of, (2004) Rapid Damage Assessment Policy and

Procedure. Office of the Chief Fire Marshal.

Fairfax, County of. (2004) Fairfax Fire and Rescue Department Operations emergency Operation

Plans Damage Assessment Plan. Fairfax Virginia.

Giles, G. (2011) Electronic Interview. Wilmington Delaware. Director Office of Emergency

Management.

Grover, S. (2002) Managing the Public Sector 6th Edition. Orlando Florida. Harecourt Publishers.

Hubbard, Ohio, City of. (n.d.) Emergency response windshield survey, retrieved electronically

March 7, 2011 from https://www.cityofhubbard.org

Johnson, J.R. (2002) Damage assessment in Sterling Heights. International Association

Emergency Managers. May 2002 Bulletin.

Meheux K., Dominey-Howes, D., Llyod, K. (2010) Operational challenges to community

participation in post-damage assessment: observations from Fiji. Overseas Development

Institute. Oxford United Kingdom. Blackwell Publishers.

Malloy, J. (1995) Wilmington Delaware Fire Department Historian. Personal Collection of

https://www.bing.com/�

https://www.cityofhubbard.org/�


Malloy J. Retired Captain. Wilmington Delaware.

Morrow, M. (2002) Wireless Damage Assessment Put to the Test. International Association

Emergency Managers. May 2002 Bulletin.

Myers, K. N. (1999) Manager’s Guide to Contingency Planning for Disasters 2nd Edition. New

York. New York. John Wiley & Sons Incorporated.

Patrick, W. J. Fire Chief/EFO (2011) Electronic Interview. City of Wilmington Delaware. Office

of the Fire Chief.

Taylor, J. Dr. (2009) Disaster Planning Second Edition. United Kingdom. Wolters Kluwer (UK)

Limited.

Turner, J. (2011) Electronic Interview. State of Delaware Emergency Management Director.

Smyrna Delaware.

United States Fire Administration (2011) Executive Analysis of Fire Service Operations in

Emergency Management Student Manual. Emmitsburg, Maryland. National Fire

Academy.


Appendix A


Appendix A


Appendix A


Appendix B


Appendix C


Appendix C


Appendix D


Appendix D


Appendix D


Appendix E


Appendix F


Appendix G


Appendix G

The Need for Rapid Damage Assessment in the City of ...

Documents