No. Our response network is solely composed of facilities that have signed a memorandum of understanding that volunteer to deploy their staff. The facility must also have liability insurance that covers their deployed staff.

The teams we need for a particular response are specific to the needs of that response, which can change as circumstances change. We generally define team types based on certain capabilities (for instance, the ability to be self-contained for 72 hours with a camper or tents, and can provide their own food, water, and other basic necessities; watercraft operations; equipment movement/operations). Some facilities have created a particular team for responses, others plan to rotate responders.

Although the specific skills within each response teams varies, here are the common roles we generally need to deploy a team:

• Crew Lead - usually facilities personnel, zoo director, or operations director. Needs to able to oversee and make decisions for the team, and maintain communications both with ZDR3 and their home facility

• Responders

  • Facilities personnel tend to be what are called in the most, as the biggest tasks we are running into are chainsaw operations for tree/debris removal. We also identify when specific skill sets are needed (for instance, one deployment required an electrician for the most critical components of the assignment, and several personnel with basic knowledge who could assist). Repairs, such as fencing, are also common.

  • Truck/trailer drivers for transporting teams and equipment. For animal relocation, full consideration will be given to requirements for drivers transporting live animals.

  • Animal care personnel are sometimes needed to assist a facility’s animal husbandry staff; more often to augment facilities teams. Our goal, whenever possible, is to help ensure that an impacted facility’s animal husbandry personnel manage their daily animal care on their normal schedule.

  • Communications and administrative support specifically dedicated to facilitating necessary communications and administrative activities, including coordination and logistics. Someone with these skills embedded with a larger response team can enhance their efficiency.

The length of a response varies, depending on the needs at the impacted facility. Some can be a day or two; others can last more than a week. We recognize that most facilities that volunteer to send a response team are stretching their staff thin to help their colleagues in need.

Our strategy to avoid burnout during prolonged responses is to phase units in and out. When ZDR3 contacts a network member regarding a potential deployment, we will ask how long you can spare that team so we can determine how many teams to put on standby for deployment.

One of ZDR3’s roles during a response is to provide updates to facilities that have deployed teams, and those that are on standby, to keep them apprised of how a response is progressing and—in the case of standby teams—whether and when they will be needed to relieve a team.

This approach also allows us to get needs assessors and/or experienced teams in first to assess and stabilize the situation, to then be followed by teams specifically identified for needed skills and/or to develop their deployment experience.

ZDR3 does not require specific response training. What we ask is that you send personnel who have on-the-job training at their institution for the role they will be fulfilling at a response site. For instance, we only want chainsaw operators who are experienced at running a chainsaw at your facility.

You might want to consider that your staff take online FEMA coursework to familiarize them with concepts such as the Incident Command System, which would also be helpful if your own facility experiences a disaster. FEMA online courses are free, and the certificates do not expire. Each course takes 1-2 hours to complete. Here are two to consider:

• FEMA ICS-100: Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS

• FEMA IS-700: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System (NIMS)

In addition, ZDR3 offers periodic training workshops relevant to responders. We alert our members to these opportunities via email and our social media pages.

No. ZDR3 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the organization’s main role is to manage the details and logistics to ensure an efficient, effective response. ZDR3 facilitates a peer-to-peer response model that ensures the facility requesting assistance receives the right teams and resources to meet their specific needs. Everyone involved (including ZDR3) provides assistance at no cost to them at a time when they are likely already facing unexpected expenses.

Deploying a team to help another facility is always voluntary; no member facility is ever required to participate in a response. Every ZDR3 Network member facility that deploys a team pays all of their own staff’s expenses.

ZDR3 does not specifically suggest how individual facility’s staff are compensated for a deployment. But what we have learned is that most deployed employees are paid their hourly rate. Specifics such as how to compensate for overnight time is determined by each facility, dictated by their policies.

These are decisions usually made prior to deployment. When a facility has on-site housing available they may offer that option to ZDR3 responders. Please note: Since response teams must often share rooms and bathrooms, consider individuals’ comfort level about lack of privacy when creating a response team.

Otherwise, ZDR3 will communicate any housing information available to teams before they deploy, but actual accommodations are the responsibility of the responding teams. Some teams stay in hotel rooms or other rental options located near the response site; some bring campers; some set up cots or inflatable mattresses at the response site. None of those costs are reimbursed by ZDR3 or the facility requesting assistance.

When ZDR3 contacts you about providing resources, we will discuss what you are willing to offer and when you need resources returned. A team that brings resources from your institution to a response site returns with them to their home site. The one exception is consumables: teams are responsible for their own food, water, fuel, etc.; they often choose to leave unused items for other teams or the facility staff.

Responders who render assistance to their colleagues gain more than the satisfaction of a job well done and building bonds among professionals. They also acquire valuable experience they can use at their home facility.

We encourage you to do so, but responsibly. Please keep in mind that we do not name the facilities we respond to unless they wish to make their situation public. Some do, many do not. That means being thoughtful about the types of images you use, and what you say.

Always remember that when we respond to a disaster we are helping colleagues on their worst days, and some of the details are not for public consumption.