After a disaster, one of the first responses we all think of is to let our co-workers, friends and family know that we’re okay, and to check on them if they were affected by a disaster. The American Red Cross provides an excellent opportunity for this from their home page, free to everyone and easy to use. See their “Safe and Well” page.

After a disaster, one of the first responses we all think of is to let our co-workers, friends and family know that we’re okay, and to check on them if they were affected by a disaster. The American Red Cross provides an excellent opportunity for this from their home page, free to everyone and easy to use. See their “Safe and Well” page.

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) has released a new edition of its preparedness toolkit which includes some excellent guidelines for creating a “continuity of operations” (COOP) plan in the event of a pandemic or epidemic. The site has links to directions for creating a manual, and worksheets to walk you through the planning process for service continuity. Take a look for some thought-provoking information for us to consider about keeping our essential services up and running if staff are out with the flu. Thanks, VDEM!

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), a specialized component of Citizen Corps, is composed of medical and public health professionals who voluntarily respond to emergencies, both natural and man-made. According to the MRC website, you may volunteer if you fall into one of the following categories:

• Practicing, retired, or otherwise employed medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, pharmacists, nurses’ assistants, and others.
• Public health professionals.
• Community members without medical training can assist with administrative and other essential support functions.
• United States citizenship is not required to be part of the MRC. Non-citizen, legal U.S. residents also are welcome to volunteer and contribute their time, knowledge, and skills to protecting and improving their communities.

Here’s a map of MRC units across the United States:

Do you know about NVOAD?  It’s a coalition, the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.  Their website lists a broad range of organizations, faith-based and otherwise, who provide disaster relief and many support services all over the world.  You can find contact information and links to the web pages for each organization.  Check your state’s listings to see whether there’s a group you can contact as a resource, or maybe you would like to volunteer to help out in your area.  There are also valuable resources listed from their Member Tools link and their Links link.  The more networking we can do, the better off we’ll all be in recovering from a disaster.

Here’s an excellent web site from the Palmetto Archives, Libraries, and Museums Council on Preservation in South Carolina, where they know a thing or two about water damage, high humidity, and hurricane preparedness.  Click on their link to “Disaster Plan Template” to see a comprehensive, yet basic list of situations to consider in developing procedures for emergency response.  Great job, Palmetto planners!

Here’s an excellent web site from the Palmetto Archives, Libraries, and Museums Council on Preservation in South Carolina, where they know a thing or two about water damage, high humidity, and hurricane preparedness.  Click on their link to “Disaster Plan Template” to see a comprehensive, yet basic list of situations to consider in developing procedures for emergency response.  Great job, Palmetto planners!

SoliNET is offering a variety of classes on disaster planning and preservation techniques over the next couple of months.  Check here for the list.  For those of you not in the SoliNET domain, check your regional organization to see what’s available.  Let me know if you find a nugget worth passing along to your peers!

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has many very helpful resources available to help rescue paper-based collections.  (Their own disaster plan template, dPlan, is featured on their pages.)  What I found especially pertinent, however, were the many preservation leaflets–there’s a “Click to view Preservation Leaflets” link in the left menu bar on every page.  The leaflets deal with every situation imaginable and are well-written and succinct.  NEDCC also offers a 24/7 “hotline” number to call with salvage questions.  I’m adding them to our blog’s list of sources for future reference!

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has many very helpful resources available to help rescue paper-based collections.  (Their own disaster plan template, dPlan, is featured on their pages.)  What I found especially pertinent, however, were the many preservation leaflets–there’s a “Click to view Preservation Leaflets” link in the left menu bar on every page.  The leaflets deal with every situation imaginable and are well-written and succinct.  NEDCC also offers a 24/7 “hotline” number to call with salvage questions.  I’m adding them to our blog’s list of sources for future reference!