Disaster Assessment and Recovery Teams

The following section outlines the roles and responsibilities for a two-pronged approach to disaster response: damage assessment and damage recovery. When establishing assessment and recovery teams for your disaster plan, it is important to detail specific responsibilities, outline clear lines of authority, and remember that a person may have more than one role.

Institutional Services Manager: responsible for seeing that the building is safe, damage to the building is evaluated, and measures formulated and implemented to remedy or correct problems. Upon notification of a problem establishes that no threat exists to personnel safety, secures the affected area and/or building, and alerts Assessment Director. Establishes priorities for facility repairs, and follows the progress of repairs once begun.
Assessment Director: organizes and manages the process by which damage is evaluated. Responsible for notifying and instructing Assessment Team Leaders, and enlisting the assistance of in-house or outside experts/resource people as required. Evaluates findings and recommendations, and contacts the Recovery Director with recovery recommendations.
Assessment Team Leader: selects and assembles the teams members, and directs their operations. Instructs the team on what to do and how to do it, including methods of inspection and sampling, assessing damaged material, and documenting the process. Monitors the damage investigation, reporting recommendations to the Assessment Director.
Assessment Team: consists of people most knowledgeable about the collection or material involved. Responsibilities include recording observations and decisions made by the team; photographing damage; investigating where damage exists, the type of damage, and the importance and significance of the affected material; estimating the extent of damage to the collection; and establishing initial priorities for recovery of damaged items.
Recovery Director: organizes and manages the recovery process. Sets priorities based on information received from the Assessment Director, assigns recovery teams, reports on progress, actions taken, problems encountered, and future risks. In many cases, the Assessment Director and Recovery Director may be the same person.
Recovery Secretary: keeps a record of all purchases and orders placed, assists in coordinating requests for materials, information, and other assistance. This position will require immediate access to a telephone.
Conservator: works with the Recovery Director to advise on recovery priorities concerning collections and materials, recommends appropriate techniques and procedures. Assists in choosing and locating supplies, equipment, and services necessary for recovery. In many cases, the Conservator and Recovery Director may be the same person.
Recovery Team Leader: appoints team members, instructs the team on what they will be doing and how they will do it. Monitors the recovery process, and updates the Recovery Director.
Recovery Team: may include all staff members. Responsible for separating collections and other material to be salvaged, moving material to be recovered from affected areas to work or other storage spaces, drying materials, and packing materials that will require shipment to another facility. Other responsibilities include maintaining records and photographs of the recovery effort, including inventories and dates when items are sent out of the building to off-site storage or other facilities; what items have been frozen, treated or dried; where items have been relocated; and items in need of additional attention. The Recovery Team may also label items that have lost inventory numbers, label or relabel boxes with locator information, and label boxes ready for shipment.

January 02, 2001