What if your museum/historic site looked like this when you got there this morning:
Or this:
Or this:
Or what if some person came in and did this to your most prized collections items?
Would you have a plan? Would your staff know how to react? What if you couldn’t get to your site? What if you director was out of town or unable to come to the site?
Today is May Day for museums and historic sites, and the goal is for people to do at least one thing towards disaster preparedness. This could mean reviewing an existing disaster plan, putting together emergency kits, meeting with local fire and police officials, or starting to write out that disaster plan.
The TN Association of Museums hosted several workshops across the state today to discuss these issues.
Here are several resources to get you started:
D-Plan – FREE Disaster planning software
Pocket Response Plan (Prep) from Lyrasis – important info, always on hand in your wallet
Resources from Heritage Preservation
Do you have any experiences with disaster preparedness or UNpreparedness? Stories of triumph or horror?
Katie Stringer Clary, PhD 
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