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Emergencies create overwhelming challenges. Good preparation can make the emergency response more systematic. When disaster strikes, first steps always involve saving people first and objects later, but added pressure can exist at living history farms, historic sites and open air museums when living collections (fauna and flora alike) must also be saved. Museum staff can respond in a timely and logical manner when guided by a response plan.  ALHFAM encourages proactive preparation for emergencies and purposeful response to them. To that end, ALHFAM provides the following resources:

Agents of Deterioration

The Canadian Conservation Institute itemizes ten agents of deterioration and steps essential to mitigate them. See: http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/caringfor-prendresoindes/articles/10agents/index-eng.aspx

The Heritage Health Index indicates that much destruction within museum storage and exhibition areas. Research on the state of historic artifacts can be sobering but can also provide incentive for better storage and handling policies and procedures.
http://www.heritagepreservation.org/hhi/


Planning

Effective planning can help institutions anticipate and ideally therefore prevent disasters from occurring. If an emergency occurs, a plan can reduce the impact on the institution because the staff will be prepared to respond quickly and effectively to minimize damage and will recover more completely.

dPlan: The Online Disaster-Planning Tool for Cultural and Civil Institutions: http://www.dplan.org/
The Northeast Document Conservation Center and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners prepared the template available for free on this website. The Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training funded its development.

Additional resources to aid in planning appear at:

California Preservation Program: http://calpreservation.org/

Northeast Document Conservation Center: http://www.nedcc.org/home.php

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Library (web-based resources): http://www.fema.gov/library/


Living Collections

The needs of animals and plants must be taken into consideration when planning for and responding to emergencies. Consult the following for information on animal health and welfare that can inform emergency planning and response:

American Veterinary Medicine Association, “Disaster Preparedness for Veterinarians”: http://www.avma.org/disaster/default.asp

National Agriculture Library, “Disaster Planning for Animal Facilities”:   http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/IACUC/dis.htm

Disaster Recovery

American Institute for Conservation of HIstoric and Artistic Works (AIC), Disaster Recovery: http://www.conservation-us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=593

Conservation OnLine:  a project of the Preservation Department of Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/

Resources for Protecting and Saving Family Treasures and Historic Properties: http://www.heritagepreservation.org/PROGRAMS/TFPublic.html

Northeast Document Conservation Center Preservation Leaflets: http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets.list.php

 

Funding Recovery

Grants exist, available through U.S. government appropriations to U.S. not-for-profit institutions, to fund disaster response and recovery. This can include debris clean-up, repair and collections stabilization and care, including animal recovery and replacement.

Guide to Navigating Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration Disaster Aid for Cultural Institutions http://www.heritagepreservation.org/federal/index.html

 

ALHFAM Response

ALHFAM encourages use of ALHFAM-L; Facebook and other social media to spread the word about emergencies, organized clean-up efforts, announce special needs for supplies or expertise, and otherwise communicate information about situations. ALHFAM members can respond with labor or material or other moral support as they see fit.

ALHFAM Emergency Response Network
The network consists of ALHFAM members with expertise in disaster planning, response and recovery. They can provide encouragement via phone calls or site visits as the situation warrants. Sites needing assistance should contact the ALHFAM Vice-President or Secretary-Treasurer to be put in touch with ALHFAM members who can help.



Contacts:
For additional information contact
Debra A. Reid, ALHFAM Vice-President
Judith Sheridan, ALHFAM Secretary-Treasurer


ALHFAM Publications
Links to selected articles and case studies published in the Bulletin and conference Proceedings.

• Dawn Bondhus,  Smoke, Fire and Water, 2008 ALHFAM Conference, Ottawa, Canada. (Download)
• Erik Holland, Responding to Disaster. In the Wake of the Storm: Cultural Institution Assessment after Katrina in Mississippi, 2006 ALHFAM Conference, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Download)
• Mick Woodcock, “Emergency Planning 101: Protecting Collections from Water,” 2008 ALHFAM Conference, Ottawa, Canada. (Download)

ALHFAM Emergency Relief Fund
This fund supports ALHFAM institutional members needing financial support in times of emergency. As much as $500 can be used to purchase supplies or help offset expenses for assistance or triage work. Sites needing assistance should contact the ALHFAM Vice-President or Secretary-Treasurer to be put in touch with ALHFAM members who can help.

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