The Tennessee Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation (TNSAVE) Coalition is a group of professional organizations whose objective is to help the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) develop and maintain a post-disaster building inspector program. TNSAVE serves TEMA and the State of Tennessee to identify and recruit, train and organize, and mobilize building inspectors following a disaster.
Following large-scale disasters (tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, etc.), there is a need to assess buildings for safe occupancy and continued use. Critical facilities (emergency operations centers, hospitals, shelters, etc.) are key to community recovery and must be inspected for safety quickly following a disaster. Likewise individuals and business owners will want to return to home, school, or work and need to know if buildings are safe. State and Local Jurisdictions may not have the resources to inspect a large quantity of buildings in a short period of time, so it is essential to prepare ahead of time to have knowledgeable and trained individuals available on short notice. In Tennessee, these individuals are known as SAVE Inspectors.
TNSAVE is led by representatives from a group of professional organizations, and exists as a "Mobile Reserve Unit" of TEMA.
SAVE Members are usually engineers, architects, building inspectors/enforcement, or other construction and design professionals with an interest in serving following a disaster.
First, an individual must complete the TNSAVE Coalition Membership Application. TNSAVE Membership is not dependent upon your ability to serve during a disaster or disasters.
TNSAVE will review your application and, once approved, place you into a database of potential Members. Following a disaster, if there is a need for inspectors, TEMA will work with the TNSAVE Coalition to mobilize available TNSAVE Members.
If you are able to deploy to an affected area, you will receive instructions on when, where, and to whom to report. Under most circumstances, you will not be asked to serve for more than three consecutive days (not including travel time). Your travel expenses, lodging, and food will be provided, unless otherwise noted in the request for assistance.
In accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated (Title 62, Chapter 2, Section 109) and the current version of the TEMA Tennessee Emergency Management Plan (TEMP), TNSAVE Members working under the emergency reservist program will not be personally liable either jointly or separately for any act or acts committed in the performance of their official duties as reservists except in the case of willful misconduct or gross negligence.
YES! Programs similar to TNSAVE exist in California, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. The TNSAVE Program is modeled after the Missouri SAVE Coalition, which has been in existence for about 20 years. MOSAVE has deployed to several major disasters, including the 2011 Joplin EF5 Tornado.