FEMA

Jerome,

What does the FEMA certification allow you to do? Is that for insurance claims or safety insepctions. I don;lt understand. It does sound interesting though: traveling to a disaster area and assisitng those in critical need.

Tom

Well to start, FEMA does not certify anyone.  The contractors who have the FEMA contracts (PARR is one of them) train their contractor on what to look at and how to enter the information into a handheld computer.  Since 1990 I have done seven disasters, from hurricanes, floods and fires.  I stopped doing them about five years ago.  If you have an established business and you are the sole inspector, it will shut you down.  You must commit for a period of time 4-6-8 weeks or longer.

Keep in mind that you are entering what is real close to a war zone.  I drove to all of my deployments and pulled a travel trailer.  Many folks are flown in and have to rent cars, if they can find them.  Hotel rooms are not going to be easy to find and if you do find them, they might be a hundred miles away from the are you are working in.  Gas might not be available in the area either, so you have to hunt for it.  Expect many flat tires.  Food, is not a big problem.  Most aid groups will feed the workers good food and plenty of it.  Also all expenses are on your own.  You are an independent contractor.  You will be paid on the average about $50 to $60 per inspection.  After you get use to the system, you should be able to do between 8-12 a day on a good day.

Outside of all of this it is also very depressing, and Yes it does present its rewards as well.

Hope this gives you a little insight as to what a FEMA disaster inspector does.

I worked for Fema in Mississippi after Katrina-it was exactly as described above. Some people truly needed help and were very grateful. It was a difficult job at times, but I wouldn't trade the experience and will go again if needed.