Emergency Preparedness and Response in the Pacific Northwest Region
To help mitigate the impact of disasters on healthcare providers and their patients, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) has developed and oversees an emergency preparedness and response plan to help Network members maintain their information services in the event of a disaster.
1-800-DEV-ROKS (1-800-338-7657) is the toll-free NN/LM Emergency Assistance Number and will connect you to the Pacific Northwest Regional Medical Library. Call this number whenever disaster strikes and your local resources/plans are unable to keep your core services available, so we can help implement the response plan!
A 10-Step Approach to Service Continuity Planning
The main focus of the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness and Response plan is Service Continuity. In other words, planning to continue your library's services should you experience a disruption due to an emergency incident.
Start with dowloading the 10 Steps to Service Continuity Template and filling in the blanks.
Alternatively, you can watch a recording of a the February 18th 2009 RML Rendezvous in Adobe Connect presented by Dan Wilson, NN/LM's Emergency Preparedness Project Manager.
NN/LM Emergency Response & Preparedness Toolkit
Start here to find information about service continuity planning, creating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), disaster plan templates, and much more.- Model Memorandum of Understanding (Word document) - a document to help you develop a relationship with another library for backup services.
- Model Mutal Aid Agreement (Word document) - a less formal agreement to help you develop a relationship with another library for backup services.
Gail Kouame, Consumer Health Coordinator, is the contact person in the Pacific Northwest Regional Medical Library for emergency preparedness and response. We also have State Coordinators who will also assume roles within their respective states - these coordinators are listed below.
State Emergency Planning Coordinators
- Alaska - Kathy Murray (afktm@uaa.alaska.edu), University of Alaska Anchorage Consortium Library, Anchorage, AK
- Idaho - Marcia Francis (franmarc@isu.edu), Idaho State University, Idaho Health Sciences Library, Pocatello, ID
- Montana - Laurel Egan (laurel.egan@sjh-mt.org), St. James Healthcare Library, Butte, MT
- Oregon - Dolores Judkins (judkinsd@ohsu.edu), Oregon Health and Science University Library, Portland, OR
- Washington - Bob Pringle (rpringle@wsu.edu), Washington State University - Spokane, Riverpoint Campus Library, Spokane, WA
- NNLM Pacific Northwest Region - Gail Kouame (gmarie@u.washington.edu), NN/LM, Pacific Northwest Regional Medical Library, Seattle, WA
Office of Emergency Management Contact Information by State
Alaska
Alaska Division of
Homeland Security and Emergency Management
P.O. Box 5750
Fort Richardson, AK 99505-5750
Phone: (907) 428-7000
Fax: (907) 428-7009
E-mail: dhs&em_emergency_mgmt@ak-prepared.com
Idaho
Idaho Bureau of
Homeland Security
4040 Guard Street, Building 600
Boise, ID 83705-5004
(208) 422-3040 Main Office
(208) 422-3044 Fax
Montana
Montana Disaster &
Emergency Services
Monique Lay
Telephone: (406) 841-3911
E-mail: mlay@mt.gov
Oregon
Oregon
Emergency Management
Department of State Police
PO Box 14370
Salem, Oregon 97309-5062
(503) 378-2911
(503) 373-7833 FAX
Washington
State of Washington
Emergency Management Division
Building 20, M/S: TA-20
Camp Murray, Washington 98430-5122
(253) 512-7000
(253) 512-7200 FAX
Main Switchboard 1-800-562-6108
More
Contact Information
Training Opportunities
WESTPAS
Western States and
Territories Preservation Assistance Service is a
regional library and archives preservation service new in
2007. Its initial goal is to deliver education and
training workshops on disaster preparedness, response,
and collection salvage to staff of libraries and archives
in 14 participating states and territories. Disaster Assistance
consultation is available by calling
888-905-7737.
Community
Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
Training
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program
educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards
that may impact their area and trains them in basic
disaster response skills.
Disaster Preparation Resources
American Red Cross
Business & Industry Guide - preparing any
business for the unthinkable.
Disaster
Mitigation Planning Assistance Website - search for
resources by state, see sample plans, and more.
Disaster
Planning, Emergency Preparedness, and Business
Continuity - links to a Word document from the
Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York.
Disaster Response: A Selected Annotated Bibliography
and much more from the American Library Association. A
resource for libraries of all sizes and types.
Selected
National Library of Medicine Resources for Disaster
Preparedness and Response (pdf) - links and
information about many different NLM resources.
Special Populations: Emergency and Disaster
Preparedness
Disaster Recovery Companies
Pacific Northwest Disasters
As part of your planning process, we are asking you to consider preparing for various types of hazards that can occur in the Pacific Northwest. Some examples include avalanche, flood, earthquake, volcanic eruption, chemical or radiological release, urban fires, pipeline failure, and dam failure. Refer to your state's Emergency Management Office for further information.
What You Can Do
The effectiveness of the plan depends on the participation of a range of players, from individual Network members, through the eight Regional Medical Library (RML) offices, to the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The structure is designed to provide a game plan that starts with preparedness and continues through emergency response.
Initially, the plan will focus on hospital and academic medical center libraries to assist them to develop emergency response/disaster plans suitable to their environments. The RML will also facilitate having Network member libraries establish back-up relationships with libraries who can help maintain services during a disaster. Participating libraries are strongly encouraged to develop a Memorandum of Understanding with their back-up library that specifies what services will be provided and how the relationship will function.
Emergency response planning presents a strategy for communicating among Network members and the RML office before and during and emergency. There are strategies for providing essential services among Network members (based on the preparedness plans), as well as assigning responsibility for follow-up and reporting of each incident or emergency.
Resources that support all aspects of this plan are linked from the Emergency Preparedness and Response Toolkit.
