During (Initial Response)

BEFORE

AFTER

Response: What do you do?

Response Overview

Basic Sections to Include a Disaster Response Plan:

AIC Response Suggestions

Health & Safety in Disaster Recovery Environments

Response Resources

Health & Safety Resources

Response Document & Form Examples

Image caption: Edited "Disaster response and recovery flow chart" from the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences' (MAAS) All is Not Lost: The Collection Recovery Booklet, page 8.

Response: What do you do?

Response Overview

This section includes resources and action steps to respond to an emergency whether it is imminent, occurring, or in the immediate aftermath of an event.

First and foremost, personal safety is more important than any collection. No one should be allowed into an affected area until the space has been declared safe. This may take time. Use this time to revisit your institution's emergency plan, contact and assemble your response team, and begin plans for your salvage efforts.

The Heritage Collections Council has outlined nine (9) useful steps to include in a Disaster Response Plan to help guide an insitution through this initial response period.

Basic Sections to Include a Disaster Response Plan:

Emergency responses to identified risks
Floor plans
Emergency contacts
Safety checklists
Assessment and stabilization documents
Telephone tree
Disaster bin
Disaster response steps
Collection priority list

AIC Response Suggestions

Initial Damage Assessments (Document and Photograph) - It is important to take the time to document the emergency from the beginning. Photographic and written accounts will help to capture information that may otherwise be forgotten in the rush to salvage your collection. Incident records will not only help you learn from the event, but also provide needed documentation for questions of liability and insurance.
Incident Reports - Incident reports will help chronicle the response and salvage efforts, in addition to outlining damages to the building and collection.
Salvage Priorities - Salvage priorities may vary, but include vital institutional documents, items on loan, the unique and valuable objects previously listed on the priority list, fragile objects or those made from vulnerable materials.

Image caption: "Anatomy of an Emergency & Operational Response" from the British Columbia Heritage Emergency Response Network's (BC HERN) website.

Health & Safety in Disaster Recovery Environments

Even after the building is deemed safe to enter, you still have to consider the following hazards:

Exposed hazardous materials such as: asbestos from insulation, and other building materials, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in some transformers and in old fluorescent light bulbs, lead from lead paints, mercury and mercury vapor from fluorescent lights, broken glass, nails and other debris.
Beyond building issues, the collections themselves may also be hazardous. Zoological collections may contain residues of old pesticides including heavy metals such as arsenic and mercuric compounds, or other pesticides like DDT, paradichlorobenzene, or naphthalene. Specimens themselves may be stored in formaldehyde, ethanol, and/or isopropanol.
In the case of tropical storms and flooding, the flood waters may also have left hazardous residues such as sewage or heavy metals.

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