Incident Command (IC)/Impacted Facility Support

Administrative Support

When requested, ZDR3 provides administrative and documentation support to help facility leadership manage response and recovery operations during and after a disaster. Our goal is to enhance organization and efficiency so leaders can focus on decision‑making, staff coordination, and animal welfare.

Supporting Facility Command and Organization

ZDR3 can work directly within the facility’s existing leadership structure to provide behind‑the‑scenes administrative support. This can include organizing incoming information, documenting actions taken, maintaining task lists, and ensuring that communication and decisions are recorded clearly and consistently.

Documentation and Reporting

Accurate records are essential for recovery, insurance, and after‑action review. ZDR3 can assist with damage documentation and compiling notes, images, and updates. They can also help transcribe or restructure informal notes into a clear chronological format, allowing leadership to maintain a comprehensive and accessible account of the response effort.

Logistical and Thought‑Process Support

During complex operations, ZDR3 responders can help translate on‑site updates into organized summaries or structured plans, helping leadership maintain situational awareness. This ordered thought process supports clear task prioritization, team coordination, and continuity across operational shifts.

Communications

ZDR3 provides communications support to zoological facilities before, during, and after disasters, helping leadership maintain accurate messaging and manage media engagement. Support may include creating draft materials, managing information requests, and ensuring communications remain clear and coordinated.

Supporting Facility Communications Teams

When asked, ZDR3 assists facilities with developing content for press releases, social media, and talking points for leadership or staff interviews. The goal is to help facility teams communicate confidently, consistently, and transparently.

Media Coordination and Permissions

ZDR3 provides support with media interactions as requested, including helping schedule interviews, prepare spokespersons, or respond to requests for updates. ZDR3 can help manage on‑scene media activity—allowing only those coordinated through the host facility. No photographs, footage, or public materials are published or distributed by ZDR3 without express permission from the facility.

Digital Media and Documentation Support

ZDR3 also assists with digital documentation, such as photos or videos used for damage assessment or recovery records. These images are taken solely for operational or reporting purposes and are not shared publicly without the facility's direct approval. 

Maintaining Network and Internal Communications

Throughout response operations, ZDR3 maintains frequent contact between on‑site personnel and the ZDR3 Communications Command Post (CCP) to share situational updates, resource needs, and emerging concerns. As needed, the ZDR3 CCP can help amplify needed communications to the wider ZDR3 Network or external collaborators. This structured communication helps leadership and responders remain coordinated, informed, and responsive to changing conditions. 

Coordination/Logistics/Planning

ZDR3 provides organizational and logistical support to help zoological facility leadership manage complex response and recovery operations. The focus is on assisting teams to function efficiently while maintaining safety, communication, and animal care priorities.

Supporting Leadership Coordination

ZDR3 assists leadership in structuring workflows, organizing priorities, and coordinating resources during challenging or fast‑moving situations. This includes maintaining task lists, helping assign work areas, and ensuring consistent updates between responding personnel and decision‑makers.

Logistics and Resource Management

When supply lines are disrupted or on‑site capacity is strained, ZDR3 helps track and coordinate the movement of supplies, equipment, and personnel. Through the ZDR3 Network, participating facilities and partners collaborate to locate available materials, arrange shipments, or share critical resources to meet facility needs. 

Planning and Documentation

Planning support may include helping facility leadership outline short‑ and long‑term operational or recovery goals, document damage assessments, and consolidate information into clear, actionable plans. ZDR3 can assist with organizing data, timelines, and notes to help leadership make informed, structured decisions.

Coordination with External Agencies

When requested, ZDR3 assists leadership in coordinating communication with external agencies, including local emergency management, utilities, contractors, and regulatory representatives. ZDR3 functions as a support resource—helping arrange or document inter‑agency and external communications and ensuring that these interactions align with the facility’s established command and communication protocols.

Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)/Psychological First Aid (PFA)

ZDR3 can help leadership identify emotional support resources to help personnel at impacted zoological facilities manage the psychological toll of disaster events. Facility staff are often deeply connected to the animals, their colleagues, and their institution — making the emotional impact of a crisis especially profound.

Supporting Facility Leadership and Personnel

ZDR3 staff are trained in Psychological First Aid (PFA) and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) to provide initial, compassionate support to on‑site teams. ZDR3 Responders are, at a minimum, briefed on psychological first aid principles. These approaches are designed to help staff restore focus and stability, reduce immediate stress reactions, and identify individuals who may need additional support. ZDR3 Responders complement, rather than replace, internal human resources or wellness teams, offering practical listening support and referrals within the bounds of their operational roles.

Recognizing the Human Impact

ZDR3 Responders often witness the personal strain that arises when staff must navigate the loss, damage, and responsibility associated with their animals and facilities. The organization views these teams at impacted facilities as first responders within their sites, and acknowledges that emotional recovery is integral to operational recovery. By promoting access to supportive resources, ZDR3 helps reinforce leadership capacity, staff resiliency, and overall institutional well‑being.

Personnel Support (Food/Personal Needs)

ZDR3 recognizes that responding to a disaster can be physically and emotionally exhausting for facility staff. Zoological employees often work long hours in challenging conditions while coping with loss or damage to their workplaces and communities. ZDR3 provides personnel support to help sustain these teams so they can continue caring for animals safely and effectively.

Supporting Daily Needs

When facility personnel are overwhelmed by response activity, ZDR3 can help ensure that staff have access to food, water, rest, and other essential personal needs. ZDR3 response teams may assist in setting up and maintaining the incident base and kitchen area, procuring or delivery of ready‑to‑eat food, and coordinating rest or recovery spaces on site. These basic services help reduce additional stress on facility teams already balancing animal care, facility stabilization, and safety.

Coordination Through Leadership

All personnel support is coordinated through facility leadership to complement their internal response structure. ZDR3 works with designated staff to identify needs and determine how external support can be integrated safely and efficiently. Assisting in these areas helps facility management maintain morale and operational continuity throughout the event.

Beyond Logistics

The value of this support extends beyond physical needs. ZDR3 recognizes that extended crises take a toll on emotional health. Providing nourishment, time to rest, and small moments of normalcy can make a significant difference in staff well‑being. These acts of care—with leadership direction and sensitivity to staff conditions—are part of ZDR3’s broader mission to care for the people who care for animals.