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0 9 / 2 6 / 0 3 FR I 11:32 FAX g]001

Attn: Dan Marcus

Dan,

I have attached nine pages of questions that NIST

Intends to ask first resp onders. Please feel free to

share them with your team in New York.

Regards,



-26-2003 li:28 OFFICE OF NIST COUNSEL

WTC Investigation DRAFT

July 28,2003

Semi-Structured Interview Protocol

FirstResponders

Logistics

ASSUMPTION: Randy will provide the names and telephone numbers

of the individualswho are to be interviewed

0. Upon meeting the subject at the interview location (be it the R's home, theworkplace, the interviewing facility, or some other location)

- Greet the subject

verify subject identity- provide subject with preparatory materials:

i. a written Informed Consent Statement on NIST letterhead that

subject signs (to effect written consent) and return to us (they keep

a copy for themselves) - Attachment A

ii. a one-page Subject Information Sheet to verify information that

we gathered when setting the appointment (e.g., Responder Type,

work location, time of arrival at site, building entered) -

Attachment 6

prior to commencement of interview, the NuStats' Interviewer reviews the

Subject Information Sheet to familiarize himself/herself with the subject

and to assemble interview materials (e.g., blueprint sheets of WTC, mapof the WTC complex, pictures)

1. Introduction

Interviewer welcomes & thanks the subject fo r attending

Tells R why we have asked them to participate:

i, What the study is about

ii. Why you have been selected

iii. Review the purpose of the interview

- Provide overview of what will occur (i.e., review "agenda")

Asks if there are any questions about the Informed Consent Statement

Provides subject with a list of free resources in the event that he/she

requires treatment

2. ConductIn-Depth Interview

see Semi-Structured Script — Attachment C

3. Dismissal



=P-26-2003 11:28 | ! OFFICE OF NIST COUNSEL

Attachment A

Informed Consent Statement

I n fo rmed Consent Statement elicits written consentan d communicates:What is occurring (WTC Investigation)Who we are (sponsorship— NIST)

What we want (R participation instudy)

Burden (how long, what we ask about, risks & benefits)Confidentiality &Privacy

Voluntary nature of participation

How to obtain more information

«NIST LETTERHEAD»

FIRSTRESPONDER

Informed Consent

The collapse of NewYork City's World Trade Center structures on September 11, 2001, was the

worst building disaster in recorded history. Thousands were killed and injured, including the

deaths of over 350 fire and emergency responders. In response to the WTC tragedy, the

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting a federally mandated

investigation into the collapse. You are being asked to voluntarily participate in this Investigation.

The WTC investigation is aimed at gathering information to help improve building and fire codes,

standards, and practices. The investigation also seeks to improve the way that building

professionals (e.g., facility owners, contractors, architects, engineers), emergency responders,

and regulatory authorities prepare for and respond to future disasters. Ultimately, the goal of this

investigation is to improve public safety.

Your cooperation with the Investigation involves participating in a 120-minute personal debriefing

with a representative of our research staff and completing some informational forms. The

purpose of the interview is to gather information about what you experienced (i.e., saw. heard,

felt, smelled) while you were in the building - your observations about howsuppression and

communications systems worked, how well the equipment worked, what problems you

encountered and how you overcame them, and what assistance you were able to provide to

occupants.

Because the debriefing involves the recollection of a traumatic experience, some participants will

experience emotional discomfort. Our professional research staff is highly trained in the

debriefing process and will be able to help you address any discomfort you may encounter.

Moreover, you may choose to stop the debriefing process at any time. Finally, a list of free

counseling services will be provided to all participants in the event that follow-up counseling isneeded.

NIST will keep the identities of the participants confidential, No one other than research staff at

NIST and its research contractor NuStats will have access to your identity. And access to

identifying information will only be provided to these staff on an as-needed basis. The staff has

signed legally binding pledges of confidentiality. Moreover, your identities will not be associated



_

EP-2S-2003 11=29 OFFICE OF NIST COUNSEL@ ] 0 0 4

with your responses. Data will be reported only in summary form. To the outside world you

information will appear anonymous.

NIST is a non-regulatory agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce and is conducting this

investigation under the authority of the National Construction Safety Team Act (P.L 107-231). By

law, this investigation is strictly one of fact-finding; it cannot be used in any suit or action for

damages.

If you would like more information about this investigation, please fee! free to call Dr. Johanna

Zmud, NuStats Project Director, at 800 447-8287 x 2225, or Mr. Jason Averill, NIST Project

Director, at 301 x x x - x x x x . You can also consult our web site at http://wtc.nist.gov.

Please complete the form below and keep a copy for your records.

I have read the Informed Consent Statement and I understand the voluntarily nature of this

investigation and agree to participate:

PRINT YOUR NAME;

YOUR SIGNATURE GOES HERE:



-26-2003 11=29 OFFICE OF NIST COUNSEL

Attachment 6

Subject Information Sheet

First Responders

(extracted from telephone recruitment data)

Purpose: This sheet is an extract of data taken during the "appointment call"; itprovides basic information that the Interviewer will need

Contact information

Name: (Full name) SI,S2

Address: (Street number & name, Apt. , city, State, Zip) S3-S7Land Phone #; S3

Cell Pnone #:S9

E m ai l address: $10

Contact Person's Na me (e.g., Spouse, Partner, R elative): SUContact Person's Relationship to you: $12Contact Person's City & State; S13Contact Person's Telephone: S M

9/11/01 Employer : S2 09/11/01 Rank9/11/01 Uni t Assignment/Station (i f applicable): S2I

Data taken from the appointment call:

Gender C MAg e C 2Disability or limited mobility flag (as a result of in jur ies suffered d u r i n g th e WTC response) C 3

C u r r e n t E m p l o ye r ( F DNY , P A P D , N YP D , none, etc.) X X X XTime of arr ival or initiation of response Y Y Y Y

W T C building entered, if any LULLExten t of m a x i m u m penetration into building (for those who entered) QQQQ

Injur ies suffered WWWWTreatm ent received V V V ' V

Ongoing treatment flag (physical and/or emotional) SSSS

Other????



26/03 F R I 11:34 F A X 0006-26-2003 ll:ciy UI-l-ILt U l- N I S I U JU l N3 t l _ r.uo

Attachment C

Semi-Structured Narrative Script

First Responders

Hello M r./Mrs. XXXXX. I am pleased to meet you. Thank yo u for agreeing to beinterviewed, Before w e begin. . . «ask about creature comfort stuff- water, restroom,too hot/cold, if light intensity bothering, whatever»

Well , thank you for agreeing to participate in this investigation. Le t's tak e care of somepaperwork, first. Ha ve you had a chance to read an d sign the consent statement?«RETRIEVE THE SIGNED CONSENT STATEMENT» Did you have an y questionsabout this before w e begin? (If an y questions come up after yo u leave, please feel free tocall the number on the consent statemen t., ,)

OK , now let me tell you about the investigation and how you can help us. . . .

«hriefly repeat the information in the informed consent statement - this reassures the

subject that everyone lias a common understanding of the investigation and is a nice, safesegue to the narrative»

N ow during this session, I will ask a series of questions that focus on specific issues w e

are trying to learn more about. There are no right or wrong answers. W e are interested inan d greatly appreciate w hatever yo u have to offer.

Do you have an y questions? O K , let 's ge t started. (Sec Semi-structured interv iew

protocol below)

NEED SPECIFIC PROBES (i f any). . . do w e just use the occupan t probes??



r6/03 F R I 11:34 FAX 01007— 1 1 ; il~y urrmz ur I N I 31 ( -UUMOC.L. i-.or

Semi-Structured Interview ProtocolFirst Responders

(FDNY, NYPD, PAPD)

I am now going to ask some questions about different tilings you might have experiencedor that yo u have an opinion about. So just answer the questions as best you can, and it isok to say you don't know or do n't have anything to add other than w hat you said earlier.

I. Dispatch & Arrival

1. Were you on duty when the call was dispatched? (If no, ask about voluntary

return to duty an d being called back, includ ing ho w called back)

2. Tell me (more) about y our role as a member of the response u nit you were with.

3. What was the composition of your unit?

4. Where did you depart from?

5. About what time did you arrive at WTC? Where outside?? (Use milestones if

necessary)

6. Where did you arrive? (e.g., specific building, staging area; pr ob e for detail)

7. Where was your vehicle parked?

8. Tell me about the other units or responders that were at the scene w hen yo uarrived.

9. From whom did you and your unit receive orders at the scene? (Did this changeover time?) What w ere your orders?

10. Did you unit commence operations your unit intact, or w as it split up to join otherresponse teams?

11. What equipment did you have an d what equipment did our unit have as you

approached the building for entry? (be sure to capture commun icationsequipment)



_.̂ -26-2003 11:36 OFFICE OFN1ST CQUNStL , .̂ J j SOOS

II . Entry

12. What buildings did you enter? About what time did you enter? (If more than oneentry, get location, sequence & timing for each entry) Which entry did you use?

(repeat for multiple entries; use blueprints as necessary)

13 . What was the condition of the building as you entered it? (probe for visuals,sounds, heat, feeling/movement)

14. What did you notice re garding the operations of suppression systems?

15. What were you tasked to do upon entry?

III. Communications & Encounters

Let's talk about how you comm unicated with the command post and the people youencountered.

16. When you entered, what communications equipment did you have? What did youuse? How well did it work? (What problems did you have with communications?How did you deal with them?)

17. While in the building, how did you receive your orders? Who gave them?

] 8. How often did you commu nicate with central command, and what was the nature

of your communications?

19. Once inside, how did you get information about the condition of the building?

20. Tell me about how you interacted and coordinated operations with other u nits inthe building? (How/how w ell would you say this happened? W hat worked well,and what didn't work well?)

21. How well were you able to comm unicate with mem bers of the unit with whomyou entered?

22. Tell meabout thepeople - both responders and occupants - that you personallyencountered while in the building. What were they doing? What was their

condition? How did you interact with them or help them? (B e sure to identifyencountered first responders by type, e.g., NYPD, FDNY, PA , etc.)

TOTflL P.01



6 03 FRI :35 FAX

.P-26-2003 11:30 OFFICE OF MIST COUNbhL

IV, Structural Integrity

The next set of questions focus on the building structure.

23. Let's go back to the time yo u first entered the building (spec i fy & repeat as

ne c e ssa r y for mult iple building entries'). Talk about the debris that was falling

when you entered.

24 . Now tell me about structural building damage you observed as you entered.

25. What was the state of the various suppression systems? (Asnecessary, ask about

sprinklers, stand pipes, emergency lights, PA systems)

26. What pre-positioned equipmentdid you u se in the building?

27.'What can you tell me about the working condition of the elevators? (Specify

which elevators are referred to)

28. What were the conditions of each stairwell you went into? (probe for structural as

well as crowding, locked doors, etc.)

29 . Please trace your path while you were in the building using this blueprint, and tell

me what you saw, heard, smelled, felt an d did. We are specifically interested in .

the structural condition of the building.

30. What events an d decisions caused you to leave the building? (probe fo r nature of

cause - assessment of danger/personal decision, responding to orders, building

collapsed upon them) Where were you when you decided you had to leave?

31. Did everyone in your unit evacuate at the same time, or did some stay behind? (If

some stayed behind, probe for circumstances)

32 . Did all the members of the unit survive? (If some died, probe: Tell me what yo uknow about what you unit's lost members were doing and where they were about

th e time of their death.)

V. Training & Equipment Assessment

Now we'd like to collect your thoughts about your training and the equipment you used.

33. Give m e your assessment about how well your training prepared you forresponding to the events of 9/11? Would there be $ome area that you'd want

more intensive training? What additional training that you did not receive might

have been beneficial?



. : .r1-26-2003 11 = 30 Oh-1-ICt Uh Nb UJUINfatL.

34. Howwell would you say that the different groups - PD, FDNY, NYPD and others-wor ked together? What, if anything , would you change if you could?

35. How well did your equipment work? What additional equipment would have

been useful an d why?

VI. Conclusion

This is our final set of questions,

36 . What else can you tell me that might be useful for our investigation?

37. Are there particular people that you would recom men d we interview for this

investigation?

Thank you for your time. If you think of anything that might be important please do nothesitate to call us .

TDTflL P.09



made by NIST. NIST will identify th e subject areas concerning wh ich they desire

information. The FDNY an d NY PD will then provide NIS T with th e names of

their members wh o are knowledgeable with respect to these areas, with the nam esof FDNY employees selected from the list of 300 names previously providedNIST by the City of New York. NIST will select interviewees from these lists. If

NIST desires to interview a member not on a FDNY or NY PD list, NIST will

notify th e appropriate Department and the City will use its best efforts to make

such member available for interview. It is understood that th e City shall not be

required to compel an y employee to participate in an interview.

3. Interviews with employees of FDN Y will be scheduled by the FDN Y Court Desk

in consultation with NIST.

Interviews with employees of N YP D will be scheduled by in

consultation with NIST. Each interview will be scheduled for a four hou r period. Interviews are

expected to run two to four hours each.

4. The following persons will be permitted in the interview room during theinterviews: the interviewer, the interviewee, up to two NIST observers, one NIST

attorney observer, one NYC attorney observer, and on e attorney representing the

interviewee, who may in certain instances be the NY C attorney, so desires. A

mental health professional provided by [PHS or NYC ] will be available outside

the room if needed.

5. Persons in the interview room will be arranged as follows: Only the interviewer

an d their attorney and ther

wintervieweer and their interviewee's attorney will be permitted to sit at the table. All

other -attorneys an d observers observers will be seated behind an d will not havevisual contact with th e interviewee.

6. Attorneys observers may observe, take notes, and otherwise represent their clients

but may not interrupt interfere with the orderly conduct of the interview.

Clarification of questions is permissible

7. NYC will hold no pre interview meetings with interviewees to coach th e

interviewees regarding the substance of thoir responses. - The interviews shall

not be transcribed or taped an d absent court order to the extent permitted by law,

the neither NISTUnitod States nor N YC shall ftet disclose th e names or other

identifying information of persons interviewed an d shall oppose an y request orapplication for such dislosure.

8. All additions or modifications to this Agreement must be in writing and signed b yboth parties.

9. This Agreement may be terminated by either party upon delivery of written notice



of termination to the other party.

10. The undersigned represent that they have authority to enter into this Agreem ent

and to make all of the representations and commitments set forth herein.

IN WITNESS W HEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the

date first above written.

National Institute of Standards

and Technology City of New York

By: By:

Print Nam e: Print Name:

Title: Title:

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