An outcome of the THeSLA meeting in Nashville (see earlier post) is that the report of the meeting provides an excellent example of how a group can collaborate about emergency preparedness, identify goals and establish a timeline for accomplishing them. The THeSLA meeting and results as shown in the report (click on the link below) provide a very reasonable model for other states or consortia who are interested in initiating an organized emergency response plan. If you are interested in planning such a meeting or have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

THeSLA Meeting Report

Here’s a quote from Dennis Schrader, deputy administrator of FEMA’s National Preparedness Directorate, from a speech he delivered recently at the National Safety Council’s Congress & Expo in Chicago.  It’s the driving force behind the many accomplishments that we all have made with emergency preparedness in health sciences libraries.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to boil down to community–communities helping other communities.”

Despite all our best foresight and planning for possible emergencies, sometimes we are all going to need a little help from our friends!  Check out this document as a great example of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between HSLs for help in emergencies.  If you have experience establishing MOUs or actually using one that you had in place when disaster struck, please add a comment here, or send along an example (ssy2n@virginia.edu).  

Eleven hospitals in Baltimore have agreed to share staff and resources in the event of a disaster. Here’s a link to the article in Examiner.com.