Emergency preparedness planning will be a major focus of the GMR during the current five year contract with the National Library of Medicine. Ruth Holst, the Associate Director of the GMR, is working with associate directors from the other seven regions to create a National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) Emergency Preparedness plan. Components of the draft plan include: an RML to RML buddy backup system; identification of essential services to be provided to network member during emergencies; Web pages with resources and communication tools; training modules and resources; and methods for promoting products, procedures, and activities for emergency preparedness.

A portion of the 2007 Regional Advisory Council (RAC) meeting in September was dedicated to discussion of issues related to emergency preparedness in the GMR region. RAC members were briefed about the NN/LM cross-regional plan and Diane Westerfield of Loyola University Chicago described her library’s process for developing and disseminating the Loyola University Library Disaster Plan. An open discussion among RAC members helped to identify the types of backup services needed by network members during emergencies as well as some of the knowledge gaps that exist on topics related to emergency preparedness.

The GMR plans to appoint a Task Force to assist with regional planning and to advise the GMR about resources and training that might be offered to network members to enhance their knowledge and skills related to emergency preparedness.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 8:34 pm and is filed under From the GMR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.