We learned about the extraordinary efforts of the University of Miami’s Louis Calder Memorial Library of the UM School of Medicine from Mary Moore, Chair, who posted excellent information on the DIMRC listserv about how they are communicating with and meeting the information needs of UM health professionals working in Haiti. Many thanks to Mary for the updates and the encouraging news that some of the resources provided by NN/LM and its emergency preparedness initiative (lists of print materials designated as essential for response to a disaster) were used and were found to be appropos to the situation in Haiti.
Cindy Love, at NLM’s Disaster Information Management Resource Center (DIMRC), coordinated the provision of information about which print resources would be most important to send. She recommended the “One Shelf Disaster Library” and the list of core titles chosen by the NN/LM Hospital Librarians Summit participants in the spring of 2009, among other resources from HHS and the Pan American Health Organization and others. For more information on the work of the University of Miami in response to the Haiti earthquake, see the Louis Calder Memorial Library’s site “Resources for Haiti.”
To subscribe to the Disaster Information Outreach listserv managed by the DIMRC, please see the link in the right menu bar under Core Resources. Once you’re subscribed, you can view archived messages to see the chain of communication from the listserv about providing help to Haiti.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) in partnership with members of the Professional & Scholarly Publishing division of the Association of American Publishers have announced the availability of free full-text articles from over 200 biomedical journals and over 30 select reference books for libraries and hospitals affected by the earthquake in Haiti. The Emergency Access Initiative serves as a temporary collection replacement and/or supplement for libraries affected by disasters that need to continue to serve medical staff and affiliated users.
“People need to plan on being self-sufficient,” Brodehl said. “We’ll help, but people need to do what they can to mitigate the problem. I could say we have a plan that will fix everything, but I’d be lying. We can prepare and train to manage a disaster, but for the first 48 hours there’s going to be a lot of scrambling.”
This quote is from the online edition of the Daily Inter Lake, a newspaper that serves Northwest Montana. The full article can be found by clicking here.
Here’s a description of what sounds like an interesting class being offered at Berea College. Sign me up.
WHEN DISASTER STRIKES: HOW PREPARED ARE WE?
GST 277 CRN 20044 / HLT 277 CRN 20045
CONNIE RICHMOND
What will happen in Madison County, the City of Berea, and Berea College in the event of a major disaster? Do you know what the evacuation policy, quarantine policy, and the shelter-in-place policy is for Berea College, the City of Berea, and Madison County? Do you know the role the Madison County Health Department and the Kentucky Department for Public Health in a state of emergency? Do you know what role the Berea Hospital and College Health Services play in a major disaster? Do you know where the nearest decontamination unit and shelter is located?
In this course, students will explore local public-health policies relating to natural and man-made disasters. The students will learn what the policies are and spend class time identifying disaster policies by visiting the Madison County Health Department, the Blue Grass Army Depot, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Families, the General Assembly, and the Kentucky Department for Homeland Security in order to review current disaster policies. Upon completion of the review of policies, the student will spend class time identifying the policies that are adequate and meet the need. If the policies are inadequate, outdated, or inappropriate, students will take steps to advocate for policy change.
Suggestion #11: Reporting. An essential part of maintaining and improving your plan is to get as much information about every incident as possible, once the dust has settled. Set up a section in your plan for Reporting, specifying the people who should be notified, and by whom, as well as what information they will need to provide follow-up.
You can devise a form which will help your first-responders know what information they should provide (see an example in the UVa plan, linked to the “Sample Disaster Plan” tab above). Reporting is most helpful if the chain of command in your library is notified simultaneously, such as by an email to the group (Emergency Response Coordinator to department heads to the manager of your facility and to your Director, for instance). This way, if a key person in the communication chain is absent, the other members will still be informed about the incident and the follow-up.
Suggestion #11:Reporting.An essential part of maintaining and improving your plan is to get as much information about every incident as possible, once the dust has settled.Set up a section in your plan for Reporting, specifying the people who should be notified, and by whom, as well as what information they will need to provide follow-up.
You can devise a form which will help your first-responders know what information they should provide (see an example in the UVa plan linked to the “Sample Disaster Plans” tab above).Reporting is most helpful if the chain of command in your library is notified simultaneously, such as by an email to the group (Emergency Response Coordinator to department heads to the manager of your facility and to your Director, for instance).This way, if a key person in the communication chain is absent, the other members will still be informed about the incident and the follow-up.
Suggestion #10: Document your Evacuation plan for staff and patrons. Your library probably already has an Evacuation procedure in place, but you may need to elaborate on it to ensure that everyone knows how to safely exit the building from any location. It is a good idea to have a narrative page that explains the Evacuation routes from all areas of the building, as well as maps based on floor plans (similar to those found on the inside of the doors to hotel rooms) showing the location and the route out. Your Evacuation plan should include a specified site outside the building where your staff should gather after being evacuated. You might need to specify two sites; one can be fairly near your building, in the event of a routine evacuation (such as power outage), and one farther away for more urgent situations such as earthquake or fire. There should also be a procedure to follow after evacuation, such as:
go directly to the designated evacuation site
do not re-enter the building until directed by a person in authority
report to your supervisor to find out the status of the building, your work area, and whether you are to continue your work responsibilities at the present time
It is very important that all staff be trained and re-trained regarding Evacuation procedures. There is no guarantee that everyone will be at their own workstations when an evacuation is ordered, so all staff need to know all routes. When training staff in Evacuation procedures, it is helpful to train in small groups and actually walk through the routes from each part of your building. Remember to account for anyone, either staff or patrons, who might have mobility issues and need help, especially if elevators are not available because of the emergency. Your goal is to ensure that everyone knows and can access the safest possible route from any part of your building, and is aware of follow-up procedures that will ensure that everyone is accounted for after an evacuation.
Suggestion #10:Document your Evacuation plan for staff and patrons.Your library probably already has an Evacuation procedure in place, but you may need to elaborate on it to ensure that everyone knows how to safely exit the building from any location. It is a good idea to have a narrative page that explains the Evacuation routes from all areas of the building, as well as maps based on floor plans (similar to those found on the inside of the doors to hotel rooms) showing the location and the route out. Your Evacuation plan should include a specified site outside the building where your staff should gather after being evacuated.You might need to specify two sites; one can be fairly near your building, in the event of a routine evacuation (such as power outage), and one farther away for more urgent situations such as earthquake or fire.There should also be a procedure to follow after evacuation, such as:
go directly to the designated evacuation site
do not re-enter the building until directed by a person in authority
report to your supervisor to find out the status of the building, your work area, and whether you are to continue your work responsibilities at the present time
It is very important that all staff be trained and re-trained regarding Evacuation procedures.There is no guarantee that everyone will be at their own workstations when an evacuation is ordered, so all staff need to know all routes.When training staff in Evacuation procedures, it is helpful to train in small groups and actually walk through the routes from each part of your building.Remember to account for anyone, either staff or patrons, who might have mobility issues and need help, especially if elevators are not available because of the emergency.Your goal is to ensure that everyone knows and can access the safest possible route from any part of your building, and is aware of follow-up procedures that will ensure that everyone is accounted for after an evacuation.
“When disaster strikes, you may have only a short time to make what might be a life or death decision.”
The above quote is taken from a web page maintained by the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency, Clarksville, Tennessee. The site explains the emergency alerting system for their area.
