The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established the System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) Program to assist emergency responders making procurement decisions. The SAVER Program conducts objective assessments and validations on commercial equipment and systems, and provides those results along with other relevant equipment information to the emergency response community in an operationally useful form. SAVER provides information on equipment that falls within the categories listed in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Authorized Equipment List (AEL). The SAVER Program mission includes:

• Conducting impartial, practitioner-relevant, and operationally oriented assessments and validations of emergency responder equipment
• Providing information that enables decision-makers and responders to better select, procure, use, and maintain emergency responder equipment.

Information provided by the SAVER Program will be shared nationally with the responder community, providing a life-saving and cost-saving asset to FEMA, as well as to federal, state, and local responders.

The SAVER Program is supported by a network of Technical Agents who perform assessment and validation activities. For a full list of Technical Agents who have performed research or assessments for the program, please visit the SAVER website at https://saver.fema.gov

SAVER focuses primarily on two main questions for the emergency responder community: “What equipment is available?” and “How does it perform?”

The SAVER Program adheres to the following policies:

• SAVER shall compare commercial equipment in a quantitative manner.
  
  
• SAVER shall focus on the human factors issues of equipment during its comparative assessments.
  
  
• SAVER validation reports shall only seek to confirm manufacturers’ claims.
  
  
• Emergency responders shall be involved with the execution of the program by the Technical Agents.
  
  
• SAVER shall collect and publish criteria important to responders nationwide when making procurement and operational decisions on commercial equipment.
  
  
• SAVER shall share objective equipment information with federal, state, and local responders.
  
  
• SAVER shall share and publish equipment reports based on credible sources and eschew the use of non-standard reference sources.
  
  
• SAVER shall not recommend one commercial product or technology over another.
  
  
• SAVER should NOT establish or test to standards except as needed to validate equipment information.
  
  

FORWARD
LIST OF FIGURES

1  INTRODUCTION

2  SAVER PROCESS
   2.1  Identifying Responder Equipment Information Needs and the Equipment Prioritization Process
   2.2  Project Planning
   2.3  Project Execution
         2.3.1  Conduct Market Survey
         2.3.2  Conduct Focus Group
         2.3.3  Conduct SAVER Assessment
         2.3.4  Analyze Assessment Results and Produce SAVER Reports
   2.4  SAVER Review and Approval Process

3  CONCLUSION

Figure 2-1. SAVER Program Process Flowchart
Figure 2-2. SAVER Program Project Execution
Figure 2-3. SAVER Categories
Figure 2-4. Evaluation Criteria Identification Process

The SAVER Assessment Process document details and illustrates the various activities conducted by the SAVER Program to assess first responder equipment and share that information with the emergency responder community. The SAVER Assessment Process is in place in order to facilitate the production of reputable and objective information

The SAVER Process consists of four separate steps, illustrated in figure 2-1.

Figure 2-1. SAVER Program Process Flowchart

In order to determine what equipment will be assessed in the SAVER Program, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), on an annual basis, takes into consideration the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (HSPD‑8) and HSPD-5; Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FEMA strategic goals and priorities; and the equipment information needs of the responder community.

The equipment information needs are gathered through various mechanisms, including responder operational needs focus groups. Equipment to be assessed may include equipment that has never been assessed by the program, equipment that has been assessed but requires an updated evaluation due to technology changes, or equipment that requires an updated evaluation due to variances in application by different responder disciplines.

SAVER provides information on equipment that falls within the categories listed in the DHS Authorized Equipment List (AEL). The complete DHS AEL is located at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/docs/NPD_Authorized_Equipment_List2007.pdf

After responder equipment information needs are identified and equipment to be assessed is prioritized, the SAVER Technical Agents who perform the equipment assessments will receive a prioritized list of projects from FEMA. The Technical Agents will use the prioritized list of SAVER projects to develop a Project Management Plan for each project.

Prior to the start of any project, the SAVER Program ensures processes are in place to make certain there are neither actual, nor potential, conflicts of interest encountered in executing any SAVER tasks. This process guarantees the “honest broker” nature of SAVER products and information. The basic elements of a standard SAVER assessment (figure 2-2) may include:

Figure 2-2. SAVER Program Project Execution

Figure 2-3. SAVER Categories

Figure 2-4. Evaluation Criteria Identification Process

Focus group members also recommend scenarios that equipment may be used in by responders and identify any additional responder information needs regarding the equipment. Focus group members may also provide recommendations on specific equipment to be assessed according to responder needs.

2.3.3 Conduct SAVER Assessment. Emergency response professionals from various jurisdictions will conduct the assessment to provide equipment information. Participants will address evaluation criteria within the five established SAVER categories as identified by the focus group.

SAVER assessments may follow scenarios devised from the Homeland Security Council’s (HSC’s) National Planning Scenarios. The National Planning Scenarios highlight the scope, magnitude, and complexity of plausible catastrophic terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies.

2.3.4 Analyze Assessment Results and Produce SAVER Reports. Data collectors are present at all assessments to collect data that will be used for the SAVER report. If applicable, a scoring methodology is applied and the process used to compute the score is explained in the final assessment report.

The following are the basic types of reports produced by the SAVER Program and are available on the SAVER website:

• Project Highlight - The SAVER project highlight is a one-page document providing an overview of a particular SAVER project or equipment assessment. The highlight attempts to answer the following questions: What is the project? Who is executing the project? Why is it important to me as a responder? What SAVER reports will be produced?
  
  
• Market Survey Report - This report provides a snapshot of the current commercial marketplace for a particular type of equipment. It lists known manufacturers of the equipment, their contact information, and salient technical characteristics of the equipment, as provided by the manufacturer. For certain markets with a large number of manufacturers, a representative sample of the market may be appropriate. The information is gathered through Internet searches, sources sought and requests for information announcements listed on the Federal Business Opportunities website, and other means.
  
  
• Focus Group Report - This document recommends criteria to be evaluated within the five SAVER categories: affordability, capability, deployability, maintainability, and usability, for the purposes of the equipment assessment. The report provides details that emergency responders believe are important to know when making an equipment acquisition or operational decision. A focus group report includes recommended scenarios, selection criteria, and participant credentials.
  
  
• Assessment Report - The assessment report provides a comparative analysis of the tested equipment based on the focus group criteria. It typically reiterates the criteria established in the focus group, provides an overview of the tests conducted, and presents the results.
  
  
• SAVER Summary - The summary is typically a four- to five page document that summarizes the assessment report. It presents the criteria from the focus group, the most important results, a comparative chart called a QuickLook, and conclusions.

Other documents that may be produced during the execution of a project include:

• Product List - The product list is a document derived from a market survey and is typically only produced for large surveys. It is a tabular document that provides succinct details about products such as the product name, the manufacturer, contact information, and a brief description.
  
  
• Validation Report - A validation report documents tests on equipment to confirm the manufacturer’s claims. The report focuses on the claims that are of interest to responders when making acquisition or operational decisions.
  
  
• Operational Validation Report - An operational validation report documents how, when, and where specific equipment is used during real operations by state and local responders over a period of up to 180 days. Further, the report addresses the effectiveness of the equipment for the local operational requirements and the impact of the technology on local operational policies and procedures. This document is meant to help educate the responder community, as well as to aid responders in the equipment procurement process.
  
  
• Technical Report - A Technical Report provides details and further analysis of tested equipment, and may or may not include a comparative assessment.
  
  
• Handbook - A handbook is a reference document for the emergency responder community that covers a technology area. This document covers the current technologies, capabilities, and limitations. In addition, the theory, operating principles, and applications are typically included.
  
  
• Guide - A guide has many features of a handbook with the exception that there is a primary focus on outlining a particular selection/procurement and/or project management process for a technology.
  
  
• Application Note - An application note contains information and recommendations on the operational usage or employment of a specific technology.
  
  
• TechNote - The TechNote is typically a high level, two-page document that answers some basic questions about a technology area such as the following: What is it?, How does it work?, Why do I care as a responder?, Where can I find more information on this?, and Who is using this technology?

Other available non-assessment–related SAVER documents include:

• Newsletter - The SAVER quarterly newsletter provides details on the latest information, projects, and activities in the SAVER Program.

The SAVER Review and Approval Process is designed to ensure quality documents reach the responder community. Each SAVER document is routed through review by a variety of subject matter experts both internal and external to the author’s organization, and then is submitted for FEMA review. Once a document has been through the FEMA approval process, it is posted to the SAVER website at https://saver.fema.gov.

The SAVER Program assesses various equipment and technologies, and shares that information with the emergency responder community. The SAVER Assessment Process is in place to ensure that information contained in all SAVER reports and products is objective and user-friendly.

For more information about the SAVER Program, or to participate in a SAVER assessment, visit the SAVER Program website at https://saver.fema.gov or contact the SAVER Program Support Office.