Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Response

Preparedness

Every institution with collections of enduring value should evaluate its risk of events that could damage holdings. There are many kinds of hazards that can cause risk to historical resources, including natural hazards (ex. flooding or lightning strike), technological hazards (ex. utility outages or hazardous materials), and human-caused hazards (ex. accidents or terrorism). Risks can be external, such as storms, or they can be internal – problems with your building, or even hazardous materials within the collections. A risk assessment is the process of identifying the likelihood and potential impact of a threat and can help identify where collections or buildings may be vulnerable. To learn more about the threats Vermont faces, find a list on page 16 of the State Emergency Management Plan.

Once risks are identified, steps can be taken to mitigate the threats and to prepare to respond if the threats are realized. Ready.gov has a simple risk assessment template, but if you want a more in-depth look at risk assessment, try Connecting to Collections Care’s Risk Evaluation webinar series or Heritage Preservation’s Risk Evaluation and Planning Program (REPP).

Once likely risks have been addressed, the institution should prepare a formal, written plan for responding to collection-related disasters. This disaster plan should include:

• The disaster response team to coordinate first response and salvage activities
• Contact information for all staff who will assist in the case of disaster (including home phone and personal cell phone numbers)
• Phone numbers and contact names of vendor services for freezing of materials and drying out of buildings
• Collection priorities (as established in your collection management policy)
• Proper procedures for drying collection materials
• Location of in-house disaster supplies
• Information about insurance coverage

To learn more about disaster planning, check out the VHRP/Department of Libraries’ introductory and intermediate disaster planning webinars for public libraries. The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has an introductory leaflet to emergency planning and provides a worksheet for outlining an emergency response plan.

The VHRP has also created a Vermont-specific disaster plan template and a Pocket Response Plan (PReP) that can be taken on the go for Vermont municipalities and Vermont public libraries. The South Carolina Historical Records Advisory Board has a video about putting your disaster plan into action and the Texas Historical Records Advisory Board has a two part webinar series about creating your disaster plan (part 1 and part 2).

Harvard Library has a benchmark tool to assess how your institution is doing with emergency preparedness efforts. The American Institute for Conservation Emergency Committee and the Resources for Emergencies Affecting Cultural Heritage (REACH) Working Group compiled a comprehensive library of resources for emergency preparedness and response. The Vermont Arts & Culture Disaster and Resilience Network (VACDaRN) has more emergency preparedness resources for cultural heritage institutions.

Emergency Salvage

Collection emergencies can be addressed quickly, and damage avoided or minimized, if staff and volunteers are trained on the disaster plan and response. It also helps to have a kit of disaster supplies on hand. The NEDCC has great resources on how to salvage wet books and records and wet photographs. Water incidents often lead to mold problems, and NEDCC also has a resource on how to salvage moldy books and paper. You can also watch the Collections Care & Conservation Alliance’s Dealing with Mold workshop.