# Presentation: 460027

## Disaster Plans: 

- Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst

## Stephen Henson

- Technical Writer
- BE&K Engineering Company
- Birmingham, Alabama

## A good disaster response plan will be:

**Practical**. Include useful information. Leave out unnecessary information
**Understandable**. Test instructions before implementing them
**Accessible**. Give copies to all concerned individuals, offices, and service points
**Current**. Revise pages as needed

**Notes:**
Practical -- 

Understandable -- if the responder doesn’t understand the instructions that you’ve written, he/she can’t respond effectively.

Accessible -- if the responder can’t *find* a copy of the Disaster Response Plan, he/she can’t respond effectively.

Current -- if the instructions aren’t current, the responder can’t be effective.

Your Disaster Response Plan must pass this four-part test. If your current plan does not pass this test, you need to write a new Disaster Response Plan.

## Purpose of the Disaster Response Plan

- To outline initial action after a disaster
- To outline long-term recovery steps
- To provide a list of contacts for local emergency officials, consultants, service providers, and contractors

## Purpose of the Disaster Response Plan

- You should compile a Disaster Response Plan that gives the first responder the information that he or she needs in the first few critical minutes of a disaster

## Human Safety

- The protection and safety of human life must be the **unquestioned first priority** during any emergency or disaster!
- Do not enter, or allow others to enter, a damaged or flooded area until officials declare it safe!
- Books and materials can be replaced.  A human life can not!

**Notes:**
The Disaster Response Plan will focus on library materials, equipment, and the building. If you look at disaster plans, or listen to this presentation, or  read the literature on disaster plans, you could easily get the impression that the books, equipment, and building are the first priority in a disaster. 

But your impression would be incorrect. The materials, the building, the equipment-- "the stuff" -- is not the first priority. In her presentation at the 1999 Depository Conference, Mary Finley of Cal State Northridge  wrote "Remember that stuff is just stuff." Always remember that  people *are* more important than stuff.

## Suggested Outline for the Disaster Response Plan

- Emergency telephone numbers
- Disaster response team members and duties
- Emergency instructions
- Priorities for recovery
- Recovery techniques
- Inventory of disaster response closet

## Writing the Disaster Response Plan

**Survey the library building and grounds**
**Identify and assess the risks**
**Outline the Disaster Response Plan**

**Notes:**
We will look at each of these topics in more detail. 

## Writing the Disaster Response Plan

**Write the Disaster Response Plan**
**Teach the Disaster Response Plan**
**Revise the Disaster Response Plan**

## Writing the Disaster Response Plan

**Survey the library building and grounds**

-  Survey for potential hazards
-  Mark sensitive collections
-  Monitor indoor air quality for temperature, humidity, mold, and mildew
-  Monitor the collections and buildings for pests

**Notes:**
You know your library building better than anyone else. You know the little quirks and oddities of the building. The places that leak, the doors that have to be closed in just the right manner.........

Clean up potential trouble spots-- closets, storage rooms, mechanical rooms. Stuffed with old furniture, maybe old paint cans..... 
Look outside your building. Are there obvious potential hazards? Does the parking lot drain toward the back door of your building? When was the last time *that*  flooded? 
Look at trees around the building. Are there limbs that need to be trimmed? 
Inspect roof drains. Are they clogged? Full of leaves and trash? Have they cleaned with a “plumbers snake?” We had a roof drain that backed up inside our building. The maintenance men ran several snakes (attached to form a long snake) and finally hit the obstruction, probably tree roots, well outside the perimeter of our building. Solved the back up. 

## Writing (continued) 

**Identify the risks**

- FEMA and USGS sources
- State and local emergency planning office
- Knowledge of local area
- Knowledge of library’s physical plant and setting

## Writing (continued)

**Natural threats**

- Internal flooding
- External flooding
- Internal fire
- External fire
- Seismic activity

- Tornado and high winds
- Snow and ice
- Power failure
- Mold and mildew

## Writing (continued)

**Technical threats**

- Loss of basic utilities (electricity, gas, water)
- Failure of HVAC
- Malfunction or failure of computer hardware/software
- Malfunction or failure of telecommunications

## Writing (continued)

**Human threats **

- Bomb threats
- Terrorist activity
- Civil disorder
- Hostage taking
- Explosion
- Chemical spill

## Writing (continued)

**Rate the impact**

- 0 point = No impact or interruption in operations
- 1 point = Noticeable impact. Interruption for up to 8 hours
- 2 points = Damage to equipment or facilities. Interruption for 8 to 48 hours
- 3 points = Major damage to equipment or facilities. Interruption for more than 48 hours

## Writing (continued)

**Rate the probability**

- High probability = 10 points
- Medium probability = 5 points
- Low probability = 1 point

## Writing (continued)

**Obtain the weighted threat rating**

- Multiply the impact rating by the probability rating to obtain the weighted threat rating (WTR)

## Threat Matrix

- Hazard                 |       Impact       |     Probability    |  WTR

- Seismic event
- --------
- Hurricane
- --------
- External flooding

- 2

- 10

-  20

- 1

- 1

-  1

- 2

- 5

-  10

## Writing (continued)

**Use the weighted risk rating to write the disaster plan**

**Notes:**
The higher the weighted risk rating, the greater the impact on your library. You might consider writing the disaster response plan in phases, addressing the greatest risk first, then over a period of time (months) working through the risks.  

## Writing (continued)

**Outline the Disaster Response Plan**

-  Identify the disaster response team
-  Assign responsibilities
-  Determine priorities for recovery
-  Plan for small, large, or wide-area disasters
-  Plan for damage to computers and communications
-  Establish a communications policy

**Notes:**
Small area=1000 books
Large area=a floor of your building
Wide area=entire community. Tornado, hurricane, earthquake with accompanying disruption of services. During a major disaster, where will the library turn for resources? 
Involve library administrators, librarians, and support staff in writing the disaster response plan. Any disaster in library will affect all groups. Everybody needs to feel an investment in the disaster response plan. 

## Writing (continued)

**Write the Disaster Response Plan**

-  Compile telephone tree of disaster response team
-  Compile list of priorities for recovery
-  Compile list of suppliers and consultants
-  Outline recovery procedures

## Writing (continued)

**Teach the Disaster Response Plan**

-  Everyone who works in the library
-  Security personnel and others
-  Location of copies of the Disaster Response Plan
-  Location of emergency supplies

**Notes:**
Everyone who works in the library including part-time employees, student assistants, stack pages, security personnel -- *everyone*

Teach them the basics:
* What a copy of the Disaster Response Plan looks like. 
* Who to call first.
* What to do first. 
* Where to find emergency supplies.

Do this at least once a year, better twice a year if your library has a high turnover of personnel. 

## Writing (continued)

**Revise the Disaster Response Plan**

-  Keep it current
-  Keep it accurate
-  Review the Disaster Response Plan at least once each year
-  Rehearse evacuations at least once each year

## Format of the Disaster Response Plan

- 3-ring binder
- Red, pink, or yellow - make it visible!
- Plastic page protectors
- Clear index tabs

## Format (continued)

**Master copy**
**Working copies**

**Notes:**
You will develop *one* Master copy of the plan and *as many* Working copies as needed.

## Format (continued)

**Master copy**

-  Purpose statement
-  Disaster response reports
-  Revision table
-  Held by Keeper of the Disaster Response Plan

## Format (continued)

**Working copies**

-  No introduction or purpose statement
-  No disaster reports
-  No unnecessary material
-  Distributed to key personnel and service points

**Notes:**
Stripped down version. “Naked”--like the Naked Chef.  Totally practical. Everything useful. 

## Format (continued)

- Few prose paragraphs
- Lots of lists, tables, charts, diagrams, and floor plans

## The Disaster Response Plan

**Make it easy to use**. Don’t make responders wade through verbiage to find information
**Make it easy to revise**. Disaster Response Plan has to be current to be useful

**Notes:**
If the disaster response plan is hard to use (if information is hard to find), people won’t use it. 

If the disaster response plan is hard to revise, you won’t revise it. The disaster response plan has to be current to be effective. 

## The Disaster Response Plan (continued)

**Date and initial every revision** no matter how minor
**Review** the Disaster Response Plan at least once a year

## The Disaster Response Plan (continued)

**Clear**
**Concise**
**Consistent**

**Notes:**
The McConathy Formula

## The Disaster Response Plan (continued)

**Clear**

-  Test the instructions to be certain the reader can understand what you have written
-  Use the active voice
-  Use the imperative mood
-  Avoid acronyms and library jargon

**Notes:**
Avoid acronyms like ILL or ILS. Don’t write “go in the ILS office and turn off switch 16.” Be specific -- “Go in room 215 (the ILS office) and....”

## The Disaster Response Plan (continued)

**Concise**

-  Don’t use unnecessary words. There will be few adjectives in the Disaster Response Plan
-  Include all relevant information without floundering in details

## The Disaster Response Plan (continued)

**Consistent**

-  Consistent use of terms
-  Consistent page layout and design
-  Consistent typography. Consider a sans serif face (Arial Bold) for headings and a serif face (Times New Roman) for text

## Disaster Response Reports

- Date, time of the disaster
- Area of the library affected by the disaster
- Description of the disaster
- Number of pieces affected
- Immediate response
- Long-term actions taken

**Notes:**
After each disaster, write a report. Write the disaster response report for the librarians who will work in your building 5 to 10 years in the future. The report will create institutional memory about the disaster.

1 of 2  

## Disaster Response Reports (continued)

- Amount of time rescuers spent on recovery (person hours)
- Results or impact of the incident
- Description and number of pieces discarded
- Financial impact of the disaster
- Photographs or videos of impacted area

**Notes:**
2 of 2

## Copies of Disaster Response Reports

- Library department or unit files
- Appropriate library administrator
- Person in charge of the Disaster Response Plan

## Disaster Response Reports

- Review annually. Look for trends. Have the disasters been similar in nature?
- Determine the cost of disasters and response
- Use the Disaster Response Reports to determine maintenance priorities

## Resources

- See Selected Resources list in handout