Disaster Planning Meeting: Introduction & Contacts

(Estimated 1 ½ hours)

Homework to be completed before the meeting:

  1. Identify the benchmarks to be covered in the planning process from the CERC web site and estimate the number of meetings needed to complete them
  2. Identify and invite the major stakeholders that should participate in the meeting: leadership, staff, volunteers heavily involved in the day-to-day operations
  3. Review what disaster planning materials have been developed for the organization in the past
  4. Review the Pocket Response Plan(PReP) for Maine institutions and start thinking about contacts

Materials for meeting:

  1. Copies of the agenda for each participant
  2. Copies of the CERC benchmarks for each participant
  3. Copies of the proposed meetings for each participant
  4. Copies of a blank PReP for each participant
  5. A calendar to start scheduling meetings (optional)
  6. Flip chart to record brainstorming of contacts (optional)

Meeting agenda:

I.Welcome and introductions

II.Overview of the goalsfor the disaster planning process

III.Review of the benchmarks identified for the organization

IV.Review of the proposed meetings and stakeholders to involve

V.Review of the PReP, starting to fill in established contacts and brainstorming new ones

VI.Assign homework

  • Fill in the Pocket Response Plan as much as possible with information coming out of the meeting
  • Assign people to follow up on potential contacts for PReP identified in the meeting
  • Continue brainstorming other contacts for the PReP to bring to future meetings for discussion
  • Assign people to complete the homework needed to prepare for the next scheduled meeting

Introduction and Contacts Meeting Background:

The purpose of the disaster planning process is to think about things that don’t typically come up in everyday operations and say what if? The danger in setting your goals for disaster planning is that it can be very easy to not take the process seriously enough and say, oh we don’t need to worry about that question or to take it too seriously and get paralyzed by asking too many what ifs. As catastrophic as the results would be, should you be creating detailed plans to deal with a plane crash when your building is not on a flight path? Most probably not. But going through the exercise of asking do we need to plan for a plane crash?can be extremely useful.

One of the most important things in disaster planning is to be self-aware about your organization and its capacity. The framework outlined here is designed to be scalable, so set realistic goals for yourself. It is far better to meet a few simple goals and then determine that you can scale up than to set an ambitious course that you never complete.Perfection can be your enemy in a disaster plan.

Who Should Attend This Meeting:

The framework is designed to bring together people who are most useful to the subject matter being covered in a particular meeting. Since the Introduction and Contacts Meeting outlines the goals for the entire process and talks about the organization’s current and potential contacts, in most cases you will want the majority of the people involved with the planning process at the first meeting. This should include the organization’s major stakeholders (staff, leadership from the board, heavily involved volunteers, municipal leaders are all possibilities). The meeting will cover the following topics: an overview of the project; the benchmarks to be completed; the meetings to be held and the people that should be involved in each; and an initial review of disaster-related contacts for the organization (such as a staff and board list, insurance agent, electrician, security company, other groups willing to help out in a disaster, etc).

Suggestions:

In working through this process with 30 different organizations, CERC has found that it works best when:

  • You have a number of people involved. For a disaster plan to be effective you have to have buy in and commitment to it across the organization – one person cannot do it alone.
  • You schedule the meetings ahead of time and commit to an end date. There will always be staff turnover, a reorganization of space,or some other reason to put off finalizing the plan for 6 months or a year. Or two years. You are much better off having a slightly out of date plan than no plan at all.
  • You date both the PReP and the plan, and include a list of those to be given the PReP and/or plan, so that it is easier to keep track of and circulate updates to each of them
  • You have one person that is managing the process, and they have the leadership’s support to request the active participation of key stakeholders.
  • You pull all the existing phone lists you have posted in various places into the meeting. One library had a list of board and staff, a separate list of utilities and service technicians, and a separate list of the people they worked with at town hall. They had their contacts ¾ done going into their first meeting.
  • Think about having the PReP and/or plan available in an electronic file people can keep on their smartphone or tablet. One organization used One Note to achieve this.

Things to Think About in the Meeting:

  • Who needs to know that a disaster is happening? Staff? Volunteers? Board members? Municipal leadership? Who should be contacted first, and then how will others be contacted?
  • What kinds of services may be needed in a disaster? Electric company, electrician, water company, security company, fire department, computer technician?
  • Who may be willing to be a Mutual Aid Partner (another organization that may loan you space to spread out a soaked collection so that it can dry, for instance, or provide advice, volunteer labor or other resources, like access to a large freezer)? Talk to them about whether they would be willing to receive a call in an emergency to see how they may be able to help, as long as your organization is willing to receive a call from them. Who do you have existing relationships with or close proximity to?
  • What supplies do you have that might be useful in a disaster, and where are they kept? Take a look at the Heritage Preservation list for ideas:. Some organizations keep the following on hand:
  • Flashlights (maybe some that plug in to charge or are hand cranked)
  • First aid kits
  • Towels, mops, paper towels, sponges, etc. to deal with water
  • Wheel chairs
  • Plastic sheeting
  • Fans

What to Do With the Information:

The information coming out of the meeting may be plugged straight into the Pocket Response Plan(PReP) for Maine institutions, which is a Word template. The finished document is designed to be kept easily in a wallet, desk drawer, glove compartment, etc.

However, all your disaster planning information should also be kept together in a binder and/or easily accessible electronic file (accessible both on site and off). The information coming out of this meeting may look like the following pages when you are done:

Institutional Contacts

Name / Title / Office Phone / Home Phone / Cell Phone
XX / Library Director / 207-000-5529 / 207-000-2636 / 207-000-3411
YY / Circulation Tech / 207-000-5529 / 207-000-9070 / 207-000-8034
BB / Board President / N/A / 207-000-4354 / 717-000-3994
DD / Board Member / N/A / 207-000-2441 / 443-000-9052
VV / Assistant Library Director / 207-000-5529 / 207-000-9929 / 207-000-5218
HH / Board Vice President / 207-000-9000 / 207-000-3440 / 207-000-8293
SS / Treasurer / N/A / 207-000-4354 / N/A
CC / Secretary / N/A / 207-000-2702 / N/A
AA / Facilities Chair / N/A / 207-000-3342 / N/A

First Responder’s Contacts

Department / Contact’s Name / Emergency Phone Number / Non-Emergency Phone Number(s)
Police Department / N/A / 911 / 207-000-3579
Fire Department / PP / 911 / 207-000-3326 (Chief Office)
207-000-7290 (Chief Cell)
Emergency Medical/Ambulatory Service / N/A / 911 / N/A
State Emergency Management Agency / N/A / N/A / 800-452-8735
Local Emergency Management Agency / JJ
PP / N/A
N/A / 207-000-5892
207-000-3800
State Police / N/A / 911 / 207-287-4478
Sheriff / N/A / 911 / 207-000-2680
Poison Control / N/A / 1-800-222-1222 / N/A

Utilities Contacts

Utility / Company Name / Contact’s Name / Phone Number
Electricity/Gas / Central Maine Power / N/A / 800-696-1000
Telephone / Fairpoint / N/A / 866-984-2001
Water / Water District / N/A / 207-000-5680
Internet Provider / Maine School Library Network / N/A / 888-367-6756
Elevators / Acme Elevator / KK / 603-000-8906
800-000-1016
Security/Fire System Provider / AcmeFire Services / N/A / 207-000-6314
Fire Alarm Notification / Dispatch / RR / 207-000-5163
207-000-2162
207-000-3131 (Redemption Center)

Insurance Provider

Company Name / Phone Number
Acme Insurance / 207-000-3334

Vendor Providing Emergency Supplies After Hours

Service Provided / Name / Phone Number
Construction/Repairs / WW / 207-000-3342
Construction/Repairs / FF / 207-000-5962
207-000-5183
Supplies / Builder’s Supply / 207-000-5644

Emergency Service Providers

Emergency Service / Company Name / Contact’s Name / Phone Number
Back Up Recovery Service / Data Company / N/A / 866-000-6568
Keeper of Administrative Passwords / N/A / VV / 207-000-2694
Dehumidification Services (Building ) / Servpro / N/A / 207-000-2500
Document Recovery Services (Freeze Drying) / Belfor / Gerry McGonagle / 508-485-9780
866-914-0939 (24/7 Emergency Number)
Exterminator / Modern Pest
Service Master / N/A
N/A / 888-000-3312
800-000-7630
Freezer Space / Belfor
Big Ski Mountain
Acme Truck Leasing / Gerry McGonagle
LL
N/A / 508-485-9780
866-914-0939 (24/7 Emergency Number)
207-000-2694
800-000-5747
Industrial Hygienist (Mold) / Servpro / N/A / 207-783-2500
Refrigerated Trucking Services / Belfor
Acme Truck Leasing / Gerry McGonagle
N/A / 508-485-9780
866-914-0939 (24/7 Emergency Number)
800-544-5747

Mutual Aid Partners

Institution / Phone Number
Baptist Church / 207-000-5251
Congregational Church / 207-000-5966
Episcopal Church / 207-000-3381

Preservation Services

*Found through the American Institute for Conservation

Name / Location / Phone Number
Samantha Couture / New York – 220 Miles / 518-377-1163
Ann Kearney / New York – 224 Miles / 518-437-3925

American Institute for Conservation - Collections Emergency Response Team

*Call 202-661-8068 to get 24 hour assistance from AIC-CERT

Name / Institution / Phone Number
Jon Brandon / East Point Conservation / 207-721-0088
Molly O’Guinness Carlson / Head Tide Archaeological Conservation Laboratory / 207-882-9078

Other Contacts

Institution / Contact’s Name / Phone Number / Website / Purpose
Cultural Emergency Resource Coalition: Maine / N/A / N/A / / General cultural disaster response and recovery information
Northeast Document Conservation Hotline / N/A / 855-245-8303 / N/A / Information on paper recovery
American Institute for Conservation Hotline / N/A / 202-661-8068 / N/A / General cultural disaster response
Maine State Library / Stephanie Zurinski (Central ME Library District Consultant) / 207-287-5620
1-800-322-8899 / N/A / General guidance on recovery
Maine Historic Preservation Commission / N/A / 207-287-2132 / N/A / General guidance on recovery of historic buildings
Maine Archives and Museums / N/A / 207-400-6965 / / General guidance on recovery

Phone Tree