Emergency response (museum)


Emergency response , refers to the measures taken to prepare for and respond to crisis situations that endanger collections, people, and building structures. Common types of emergencies include natural disasters, pests, terrorism, war, and theft or vandalism. These conditions make up 5 of the 10 primary agents of deterioration that effect the longevity of museum collections.
To prevent damage of this nature from occurring, museums run a risk assessment and develop an emergency response plan that is tailored to the needs of their institution, taking into consideration factors like climate, location, and collection materials. A response plan includes details such as: training information, floor plans and evacuation routes, emergency supply locations, contact information for emergency response team members, resource and collection priority lists, and where to store salvaged items. Periodically, museums will reevaluate their emergency response plan to account for changes in location or personnel, the addition or subtraction of objects from the collection, and other modifications impacting the institution's preparedness. There are no official requirements for an emergency preparedness plan only guidelines determined government or local authorities.

Types of disasters and emergencies

The museum sector acknowledges three types of disasters or emergencies that impact collecting institutions: natural disasters, man-made threats, and cultural threats.
Natural disasters are unpredictable occurrences that are usually dictated by region and climate. These include weather conditions such as hurricanes, tornados, floods, blizzards, landslides, earthquakes or aftershocks, and sandstorms. These types of threats can cause extreme structural and object damage to museums. Not all naturally occurring disasters are weather based. Pests such as insects, rodents, birds and bats can also cause irreversible harm to a museum. Unlike weather based disasters, pests cause specific object damage or accelerate deterioration.
in September 2018
Despite being two distinct categories, man-made and cultural threats are often grouped together. Man-made threats include theft or vandalism, art theft or forgery, terrorism, and protest or war. Since these activities impact the integrity of a collection as well as the security of it, they are also considered cultural threats. Cultural threats are changes that result in the destruction of important objects, locations, or ideals that define a region, people, or time.
The most common threat to museums, both natural and man-made, is fire. Fire can cause internal and external damage to singular exhibits or of whole building depending on the cause and speed of responsiveness.
Art theft or forgery is also a common and financially detrimental types of disaster. According to the , these activities generate between $4 billion to $6 billion per year in stolen art and artifacts. Art fraud not only threatens individual works but can invalidate historical significance and challenge the legitimacy of an entire collection.

Preparedness

As with any disaster or emergency, damage or loss can be mitigated through proper and maintained preparation. On some level, emergency preparedness should dovetail collections care practices in every institution.

Building an emergency preparedness plan

Museums will inevitably face an emergency situation either natural or man-made at some point and therefore will need to develop an emergency preparedness plan to mitigate risks to the collections objects and personnel within the museum. The primary objectives of emergency planning are to identify risks in order to anticipate and, if possible, to avoid emergencies; to retain control when an emergency occurs; and to mitigate potential damage as quickly as possible. When an emergency plan is created, various stake holders within the institution should be consulted and upon completion, the emergency plan should be recorded and made easily understood and easy to implement with copies of the plan kept in different locations within and outside of the museum. In case of an emergency at the museum, the plan may not be accessible and therefore a copy of the plan can be obtained at an outside location. The emergency preparedness plan will need to be periodically reviewed and updated and staff will need to be drilled from time to time to ensure that in the event of an emergency, museum staff will be able to effectively carryout the established protocols spelled out in the plan.

Risk assessment

Museums are advised to conduct annual risk assessments for their collection, building, and surrounding community. The purpose of the assessment is to determine what known factors present a danger to the institution and to try and predict unknown or unexpected factors in order to prevent future damage. Risk assessments help to inform the emergency preparedness plan and develop training for museum personnel. Part of the assessment is creating and maintaining an inventory of the collection to help prioritize objects, establish locations for storage, and form a more efficient response plan in case of an emergency.
Insurance
To assist in the risk assessment of a museum, a detailed and flexible insurance policy is required to accommodate a specific or ever-evolving collection. Risks can be mitigated through an insurance policy that specifies the financial protection of previously assessed museum owned and loaned artifact, and any other property significant to the museum's mission. Agents generally assist a museum in identifying a monetary insurance limit based on the area's disaster and emergency history, as well as the probable maximum loss that is large enough to cover the worst-case scenario.
While PML is another ideal policy, many museums can only afford to assess the risk for the probable maximum loss of an individual gallery or storage area, as well as any functions that extend beyond the shipping dock and front doors. However, in the event an individual artifact is lost or damaged the previously appraised amount or the current market value will be considered during replacement or conservation. Realizing the unique specifications needed for an effective insurance plan with an insurance company which specializes in fine arts museums applications, declarations, and coverage.
Preventive measures
Although many preventive measures are universal, certain measures can be performed by museum staff members to mitigate extreme damage to the collection, in both storage and exhibition areas.
Building Alterations:
File:Evacu-Trac Bench.jpg|thumb|right|Hinge-lid bench at the containing an Evacu-Trac chair
Environmental monitoring occurs on a weekly or monthly routine depending on the exhibition schedule and environmental factors such as an influx of visitors in the summer heat. The following are museum-specific environments that are controlled yet still vulnerable:
If possible, exhibition galleries, hallways, lobbies, and offices are functionally decorated with hinged-lid benches that contain an Evacu-Trac Emergency Evacuation Chair. In the event of an emergency, elevators are not safe and any disabled staff member or visitor will need to be able to evacuate down the stairs. Strategically placed near exits and spaced along the designated evacuation routes, the collapsible chair has a low handle height, is lightweight, and has a fail-safe brake so that anyone can assist this person.

Resources and personnel

Preparedness for personnel includes providing museum staff with emergency training and predetermined designated responsibilities. Collections and exhibition personnel fully inventory all collections and upload it to the museum's Collections Management System. Updates are generally made at least every 72 hours. Duplicate copies of the database reside off-site and in fire-proof cabinets in the Collections, Curation, and Administration departments. Cabinets are also equipped with Disaster Kits containing safety goggles, flashlights with batteries, nitrile, cotton and fireproof gloves, disposable respirator masks, a medical kit, disposable cameras, large and small tarps, heavy packing blankets, hurricane plastic, markers and paper, artifact identification tags, and emergency and insurance personnel information. In order to maintain a working knowledge of emergency planning and preparedness, a notebook and digital file containing the following are kept on- and off-site:
In an attempt to maintain control of any emergency, the policies and procedures in the emergency plan outlines the individual, team, and contracted services chain of commands, documentation requirements, and salvage priorities. Policies and procedures form from analyzing and discussing the following elements of a potential emergency:
Once a draft is completed, it is made available for the entire staff to comment on and provide input. To ensure continuous staff training, mock disasters and quizzes are routinely conducted.
Recently, the and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners developed on online template that allows museums to input data that results in a customized disaster response plan called .

Response

The initial hours and days after an emergency has occurred are the most critical for mitigating damage, and preventing any further damage from occurring during recovery efforts. The welfare of staff and visitors is the primary concern during an emergency, and their safety must be ensured first and foremost.
The best response is executed by following the prescribed emergency response plan, remaining safe and calm, and acting deliberately.

Notify museum personnel

Immediate action is taken within the first 48 hours to stabilize the environment, assess the damage, and report conditions and recommendations. Staff must be notified of the emergency so that they may act in accordance with the museum's , including consciously looking for hazards during an evacuation and notifying the appropriate museum associated and non-museum associated personnel. The following are examples of personnel to contact before or upon re-entry into the museum:
'Museum Associated Personnel'
'Non-museum Personnel'
Any pre-approved disaster response and salvage organizations or contracted companies are also made aware early of the possibility of assisting the museum. It is important to initially contact the following before and after the re-entry and damage assessment to ensure necessary and cost effective assistance:
To determine the level of damage, the staff teams are prepared to systematically assess collections and exhibitions damage and provide remedies that will reduce recovery time.
Small museum personnel teams consist of various combinations of registrar, curators, conservators, and exhibition designers and art handlers. The teams are sorted by their involvement in either the type of collections on display or due to their participation on the initial exhibition team. If this is not known at the moment, off-site back-up information might need to be consulted. Each team has a leader that reports to the emergency response ‘project manager’ who is most likely a conservator, collections manager, or head curator. If applicable, an objects and/or textile conservator can start with the exhibition with the most either loaned or vulnerable objects.
Documentation will be taken by all teams to record the physical and intellectual damage to the collection and exhibitions before and after any moving or handling. Teams discuss immediate recommendations for the exhibition's resurrection; such as in-house object replacements, probability of reproducing panels, barriers, and cases, and security systems. Such documentation includes:
Museum staff must cooperate with each other during the initial assessment of damages, which includes identifying any hazardous materials or circumstances, and proceeding with salvage priorities. Therefore, each response team reconvenes to share damage data and recommendations with the director, deputy director, development officer, financial officer, PR/marketing officer, and related staff to determine the appropriate supplies, assistance, and funding needed. Generally, a Rapid Collections Assessment is conducted by each team and then approved by the project leader to use for insurance and to create a salvage priority list and exhibit rehabilitation timeline. Completion of the assessment calls for the re-communication with:
Staff teams constantly work to identify any hazardous materials that could hinder the response and recovery process, for both the objects and personnel involved. Teams will receive this list to ensure safe handling and maneuvering when stabilizing the building and collection.

Stabilization

Armed with the documentation such as a Rapid Collections Assessment, and Artifact Salvage and Exhibition Rehabilitation Timelines, teams formulate and implement a plan to stabilize and recover the building, exhibitions, and artifacts. Although safety hazards surrounding material removal and interactions can cause issues, flexibility and periodic re-assessment is essential.

Retrieval and protection

The following precautions should be taken by all involved to minimize personnel injury and collection damage:
To further stabilization, teams:
There are many online resources that specify how to stabilize and continuously care for objects that have been damaged by material and condition. The AIC's new blog, CoOL, archives individual articles on how to salvage artifacts by material, as well as a 'Find a Conservator' page.

Salvage

It is recommended that all salvage priorities be set prior to an emergency and to have those priorities clearly documented and labeled in the museum’s emergency response plan.
Some basic rules for salvage recovery are as follows:
Bathroom accommodations, washing facilities with a clean water supply, a sound structure, ground fault circuit interrupters on outlets, handrails for stairways with more than 4 steps, no refuse or toxic chemicals, no asbestos, no lead paint, no mold and no pesticides and or chemicals so it is recommended that the emergency salvage sites be picked and vetted prior to an emergency.

Options for funding recovery

All too often enough, finding the funding to recovery can be difficult but addressed in several creative ways. The traditional ‘ask’ from donors is a great start. However, collaborating museum education, curation, public relations, and conservation personnel could launch “Adopt an Artifact”. Groups or individuals gradually sponsor the conservation of any damaged artifacts or exhibits. Appreciations would be made accordingly with an exhibit label or dedication ceremony. Similarly, a “Resurrection” gala could highlight certain artifacts that need to be conserved while raising funds for said artifacts at a one time, give all event. Another option is to increase the museum employee discount for the museum store from 20% to 25%, for example. All of the proceeds from the store can go directly back into the acquisition of items to replace damaged or lost artifacts. Social media has also played a large role in getting the digital community involved in mobilizing recovery efforts.
NDCC Funding Opportunities for conservation and salvage http://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/funding-opportunities/overview