Think through what types of disasters can occur. Examples include fire, flooding, mold, pests, earthquake, volcanic eruption, theft. Each of these different topics need to be addressed in the disaster plan.
Create a list of the types of material that is in collection. For example: textiles, photographs, film, fossils, taxidermy, rare books. The disaster plan should outline how to handle salvage and conservation for different types of objects in the collection.
Make a phone tree. Identify who are the primary emergency coordinator, building supervisor, facilities staff, artifact recovery team, conservators, local emergency management office, fire and police departments and insurance representative. Keep this list up-to-date.
Make sure insurance documentation is available. Keep this information available in a safe off-site location.
Photograph the objects in the collection. Having photographs of each of the objects can help the recovery team identify items and may be necessary for insurance purposes.
Put together a disaster kit that includes plastic sheeting, brooms, boxes, fans, camera, flashlights, garbage bags, wet dry vac--anything you can think that might come in handy during an emergency.
Make sure your institution has an inventory of what's in the collection. This list comes in handy during a theft and can be used to identify key artifacts that may need to be quickly salvaged during a more destructive emergency.
Include facility drawings/records. Floor plans, with locations of electrical boxes, water or gas mains are useful
Make sure that you and the staff are safe
Evacuate the building
Find out what happened/notify insurance
Eliminate hazards (turn off electricity, gas, water if necessary)
Make sure it is safe to enter the facility.
Structural, electrical, chemical, air-quality are all factors that need to be considered.
Personal Safety (before re-entering space)
Boots/respirator (training & correct equipment)
7. Refer to disaster plan for disaster response team members and to identify what material might be affected in a particular area
Examples: Localized leak from pipes or roof, minor flooding
Find and eliminate the cause
Assemble response team
Inspect the building and collection
Document the damage
Protect priority collections and records from further damage
Stabilize temperature and humidity
Create salvage plan/ Begin salvage
Gather supplies
Assign Teams/Roles
Prioritize collections to recover
Layout supplies, identify triage space separate from collection
Create Cleaning / Drying area
Post instructions on cleaning / drying / storage
Examples: Fire, Explosion, Flash Flood, Broken Water Main, Earthquake, tornado, major flood, hurricane
Assemble Response Team
Establish security procedures, get safety clearance
Inspect building and collection for damage
Document the damage
Protect collections from further damage. Cover them to guard against water damage and debris, or move them if necessary.
Stabilize temperature and humidity
Create salvage plan/ Begin Salvage
Gather supplies
Assign Teams/Roles
Prioritize collections to recover
Layout supplies, identify triage space separate from collection
Create a triage area that include areas such as “safe & dry”, “air dry”, “pack for freezing” and “deaccession”
Save extremely damaged, cracked, broken objects for a specialist
Read through or view one of the following and discuss in the Google Classroom some things these museums or libraries can do going forward to protect their institutions from these things reoccurring?
FloridaC2CEmergencyCaseStudyFlood
FloridaC2CEmergencyCaseStudyHurricane
South Street Seaport Museum Mops Up After Flood. New York Times.