Performing a Triage in your Emergency Response
March 2005 Damage Restoration Article
by Brandon Burton
In the minutes that pass during your initial response to a fire or water loss, damage is occurring at a rapid rate. In the time it takes to mitigate the potential damage to one item, others could be developing permanent damage.
Where should you focus your time, energy and resources? Better yet, where would the customer focus your effort? There are three major areas of consideration when deciding in the Triage assessment which items need your attention first.
- Is there damage present, and is it permanent?
- What level of risk is there for secondary damage? What consequence is there for delayed action?
- What value does the item possess?
Similar to the emergency room in a hospital, prioritizing our efforts properly will ensure that we best allocate our available efforts. This practice has been used to save thousands upon thousands of lives across the globe. Just as in the medical field, not all damage is reversible. Not all cases will result in success. Not all surgeries, even if the illness is life threatening, will be performed.
It can be a difficult assessment. Emotions are as high as winds in a hurricane. The damage suffered is not always evident. Value assessment has to be made on more than one level, both emotionally and monetarily. Above all else, time will show you no mercy. The decision needs to be made now regardless of the hurdles you encounter in each loss.
Despite the challenges the process brings to the table, this process brings an enormous value to the bottom line. A restorer in Arizona recently finished a project for a national transportation company where a fire suppression system had affected their main computer server room. The facility manager estimated that the loss of their main server was resulting in a minimum cost of $100,000 per hour.
By using the process outlined below, the restorer was able to get the servers back online almost immediately resulting in an estimated savings in excess of $300,000.
Another restorer in Indiana stated that "Using this process will save a minimum of 25-30% on the overall loss severity, and on average as much as 40%."
On average, water losses may cost as little as $3.00-$4.00 per square foot, and as much as $18.00-$20.00. The difference in severity, as dramatic as it appears, depends primarily on how successful you are with your initial mitigation.
The triage assessment process can begin even before you arrive to the job site. Information about the loss can begin to establish the proper response for different material types before you have the chance to perform a physical inspection. For example, if dealing with a category three sewage backup, your process of triage will be greatly simplified.
In more severe losses the decision process becomes much more objective. Where damage is dramatic and obvious, decisions will be just as obvious.
The conversation becomes more difficult in situations were the damage is not as obvious. Especially when dealing with a loss area where there is not a large amount of primary damage or contamination, your triage assessment will become critical. It is more a process of eliminating or minimizing secondary damage.
Using the three questions grouped above, items and structure can be set into three major groups to prioritize your response:
- Discard
- Restore Immediately
- Restore Later
The simple flow chart below can be used to understand the basics in the Triage Assessment process.
Whether the evaluation involves structure or contents, this process is the backbone to the decisions you will make in the first few moments of the loss. Items affected by the fire or water must be categorized into the three potential actions listed in the flow chart. Each action has its own set of potential deviations and considerations.
Discard
When an item or structural component has suffered irreparable damage due to contact with moisture, contaminants or physical damage from fire, restoration to a pre loss condition may not be possible. At the time of initial inspection, most items that fit this description should be listed on a schedule of loss, set aside for review by an adjuster, and if approved discarded and replaced.
Discussions will be necessary with all materially interested parties with this action. There are exceptions where, due to the emotional or monetary value of the item, that the irreparable damage may be overlooked and the customer may accept the item in a less than pre loss condition. It is a logical requirement when this course of action will be taken, that you include written authorization and photo documentation.
Another exception that you may need to allow for includes consideration for containment. Although removal of a structural component may be necessary due to permanent damage, if removal of the material will result in a loss of your containment (especially if containment is critical) then delayed removal may be necessary.
Communication and approval may also slow the removal process. Consent from other materially interested parties needs to be considered whether dealing with structure or contents.
Restore Immediately
This category of action requires a much more independent process. In all cases, communication should be pursued with parties such as the building owner and insurer or adjuster. However, in many circumstances, when dealing with items that are a high risk to secondary damage in the loss area you may need to take immediate action.
Documentation again plays an important role. The items in this category are of the highest risk and play the largest role in either increasing or decreasing the overall loss severity.
The value of the item, as discussed below, will also have significant influence even at this stage in the process. Photo documentation can help determine the value of these items.
Items in this category are often hygroscopic and respond rapidly to the moisture present in a fire or water loss. Many structural components and contents will either contain or be constructed solely from hygroscopic materials. Drywall, wood, cellulose, many textile fibers and other wood derivatives are all highly hygroscopic.
Restore Later
Materials or structure that have suffered minor but repairable damage, and are not at a risk for secondary damage, should be low on your priority list. These are typically materials that are either not hygroscopic, are not wet, or do not suffer from short-term exposure to water. Materials in this category may include concrete, brick, structural lumber, synthetic materials, or any hygroscopic material previously discussed that has not been exposed to high levels of abnormal moisture.
Your time and energy in the first moments of your response should not include these items. Immediate attention will not greatly influence the outcome of your restoration efforts.
In Summary
Your decisions in the emergency mitigation process will dramatically affect the success of the overall restoration process. Communication also plays an important role in reducing the severity of damage. The role a restoration contractor plays, is in mitigation of loss severity, as those in the insurance community commonly refer to it. Treating each water loss as the medical field does a patient in an emergency room will ensure effective decision-making and your greatest potential impact on mitigation.
|
|