PURPOSE OF SAVE COALITION
The Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation (SAVE) Coalition exists to coordinate a program to be activated after a disaster whereby architects and professional engineers registered under Tennessee Code Annotated (Title 62, Chapter 2) or other qualified individuals, may assist in assessing buildings and vertical structures for safe occupancy or use.
When requested by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), SAVE Members will be deployed to assist local jurisdictions to determine whether buildings affected by a disaster:
Have not sustained serious damage and may be occupied;
Must be vacated temporarily pending repairs; or
They are unsafe to enter or occupy because of hazards to occupants or other persons.
SAVE Members are not authorized nor intended to perform search and rescue or other disaster response activities.
SAVE COALITION GOALS
The goals of the SAVE Coalition are to support TEMA in the following activities:
Assessing the safety of buildings following disasters.
Preparing an Administrative and Operations Plan to facilitate effective building safety evaluations following disasters.
Facilitate training and accreditation programs for SAVE Members.
Maintaining a roster of SAVE Members by regions of the state.
Developing an alert system or method to contact and deploy SAVE Members following a disaster.
PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
The SAVE Coalition is comprised of several professional organizations whose objective is to help TEMA maintain an effective program for post-disaster building inspections. The organizations include:
American Council of Engineering Companies/Tennessee (ACEC/TN)
American Society of Civil Engineers Tennessee Section (ASCE/TN)
Geotechnical Institute of the ASCE of Tennessee
Society of American Military Engineers - Nashville Post (SAME)