Disaster Planning Meeting: Introduction & Contacts
(Estimated 1 ½ hours)
Homework to be completed before the meeting:
1. Identify the benchmarks to be covered in the planning process from the CERC web site and estimate
the number of meetings needed to complete them
2. Identify and invite the major stakeholders that should participate in the meeting: leadership, staff,
volunteers heavily involved in the day-to-day operations
3. Review what disaster planning materials have been developed for the organization in the past
4. Review the Pocket Response Plan (PReP) for Maine institutions and start thinking about contacts
Materials for meeting:
1. Copies of the agenda for each participant
2. Copies of the CERC benchmarks for each participant
3. Copies of the proposed meetings for each participant
4. Copies of a blank PReP for each participant
5. A calendar to start scheduling meetings (optional)
6. Flip chart to record brainstorming of contacts (optional)
Meeting agenda:
I. Welcome and introductions
II. Overview of the Cultural Emergency Resource Coalition’s process goals
III. Review of the benchmarks identified for the organization
IV. Review of the proposed meetings and stakeholders to involve
V. Review of the PReP, starting to fill in established contacts and brainstorming new ones
VI. Assign homework
 Fill in the Pocket Response Plan as much as possible with information coming out of the
meeting
 Assign people to follow up on potential contacts for PReP identified in the meeting
 Continue brainstorming other contacts for the PReP to bring to future meetings for discussion
 Assign people to complete the homework needed to prepare for the next scheduled meeting
Introduction and Contacts Meeting Background:
The purpose of the disaster planning process is to think about things that don’t typically come up in everyday
operations and say what if? The danger in setting your goals for disaster planning is that it can be very easy to
not take the process seriously enough and say, oh we don’t need to worry about that question or to take it too
seriously and get paralyzed by asking too many what ifs. As catastrophic as the results would be, should you be
creating detailed plans to deal with a plane crash when your building is not on a flight path? Most probably
not. But going through the exercise of asking do we need to plan for a plane crash? can be extremely useful.
One of the most important things in disaster planning is to be self-aware about your organization and its
capacity. The framework outlined here is designed to be scalable, so set realistic goals for yourself. It is far
better to meet a few simple goals and then determine that you can scale up than to set an ambitious course
that you never complete. Perfection can be your enemy in a disaster plan.
Who Should Attend This Meeting:
The framework is designed to bring together people who are most useful to the subject matter being covered
in a particular meeting. Since the Introduction and Contacts Meeting outlines the goals for the entire process
and talks about the organization’s current and potential contacts, in most cases you will want the majority of
the people involved with the planning process at the first meeting. This should include the organization’s major
stakeholders (staff, leadership from the board, heavily involved volunteers, municipal leaders are all
possibilities). The meeting will cover the following topics: an overview of the project; the benchmarks to be
completed; the meetings to be held and the people that should be involved in each; and an initial review of
disaster-related contacts for the organization (such as a staff and board list, insurance agent, electrician,
security company, other groups willing to help out in a disaster, etc).
Suggestions:
In working through this process with 26 different organizations, CERC has found that it works best when:
 You have a number of people involved. For a disaster plan to be effective you have to have buy in and
commitment to it across the organization – one person cannot do it alone.
 You schedule the meetings ahead of time and commit to an end date. There will always be staff or
volunteer turn over, a reorganization of space, the holidays, or some other reason to put off finalizing
the plan for 6 months or a year. Or two years. You are much better off having a slightly out of date
plan than no plan at all.
 You have one person that is managing the process, and they have the leadership’s support to request
the active participation of key stakeholders.
 Pull all the existing phone lists you have posted in various places into the meeting. Most of your work
may already be done and just needs to be consolidated! One library had a list of board and staff, a
separate list of utilities and service technicians, and a separate list of the people they worked with at
town hall. They had their contacts ¾ done going into their first meeting.
Things to Think About in the Meeting:




Who needs to know that a disaster is happening? Staff? Volunteers? Board members? Municipal
leadership? Who should be contacted first, and then how will others be contacted?
What kinds of services may be needed in a disaster? Electric company, electrician, water company,
security company, fire department, computer technician?
Who may be willing to be a Mutual Aid Partner (another organization that may loan you space to
spread out a soaked collection so that it can dry, for instance, or provide advice, volunteer labor or
other resources, like access to a large freezer)? Talk to them about whether they would be willing to
receive a call in an emergency to see how they may be able to help, as long as your organization is
willing to receive a call from them. Who do you have existing relationships with or close proximity to?
What supplies do you have that might be useful in a disaster, and where are they kept? Take a look at
the Heritage Preservation list for ideas:http://www.heritagepreservation.org/PUBS/FGTab4.pdf.
Some organizations keep the following on hand:
o Flashlights (maybe some that plug in to charge or are hand cranked)
o First aid kits
o Towels, mops, paper towels, sponges, etc. to deal with water
o Wheel chairs
o Plastic sheeting
o Fans
What to Do With the Information:
The information coming out of the meeting may be plugged straight into the Pocket Response Plan (PReP) for
Maine institutions, which is a Word template. The finished document is designed to be kept easily in a wallet,
desk drawer, glove compartment, etc.
However, all your disaster planning information should also be kept together in a binder and/or easily
accessible electronic file (accessible both on site and off). The information coming out of this meeting may look
like the following pages when you are done:
Institutional Contacts
Name
XX
YY
BB
DD
VV
HH
SS
CC
AA
Title
Library
Director
Circulation
Tech
Board
President
Board Member
Assistant
Library
Director
Board Vice
President
Treasurer
Secretary
Facilities Chair
Office Phone
207-000-5529
Home Phone
207-000-2636
Cell Phone
207-000-3411
207-000-5529
207-000-9070
207-000-8034
N/A
207-000-4354
717-000-3994
N/A
207-000-5529
207-000-2441
207-000-9929
443-000-9052
207-000-5218
207-000-9000
207-000-3440
207-000-8293
N/A
N/A
N/A
207-000-4354
207-000-2702
207-000-3342
N/A
N/A
N/A
First Responder’s Contacts
Department
Contact’s Name
Police Department
Fire Department
N/A
PP
Emergency
Phone Number
911
911
Emergency
Medical/Ambulatory
Service
State Emergency
Management Agency
Local Emergency
Management Agency
State Police
Sheriff
Poison Control
N/A
911
Non-Emergency Phone
Number(s)
207-000-3579
207-000-3326 (Chief Office)
207-000-7290 (Chief Cell)
N/A
N/A
N/A
800-452-8735
JJ
PP
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
911
911
1-800-222-1222
207-000-5892
207-000-3800
207-287-4478
207-000-2680
N/A
Utilities Contacts
Utility
Electricity/Gas
Telephone
Water
Internet Provider
Elevators
Company Name
Central Maine Power
Fairpoint
Water District
Maine School Library
Network
Acme Elevator
Security/Fire System AcmeFire Services
Provider
Fire Alarm
Dispatch
Notification
Contact’s Name
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Phone Number
800-696-1000
866-984-2001
207-000-5680
888-367-6756
KK
603-000-8906
800-000-1016
207-000-6314
N/A
RR
207-000-5163
207-000-2162
207-000-3131
(Redemption Center)
Insurance Provider
Company Name
Acme Insurance
Phone Number
207-000-3334
Vendor Providing Emergency Supplies
After Hours
Service Provided
Construction/Repairs
Construction/Repairs
Name
WW
FF
Supplies
Builder’s Supply
Phone Number
207-000-3342
207-000-5962
207-000-5183
207-000-5644
Emergency Service Providers
Emergency Service
Back Up Recovery
Service
Keeper of
Administrative
Passwords
Dehumidification
Services (Building )
Document Recovery
Services (Freeze
Drying)
Exterminator
Freezer Space
Industrial Hygienist
(Mold)
Refrigerated
Trucking Services
Company Name
Data Company
Contact’s Name
N/A
Phone Number
866-000-6568
N/A
VV
207-000-2694
Servpro
N/A
207-000-2500
Belfor
Gerry McGonagle
Modern Pest
Service Master
Belfor
N/A
N/A
Gerry McGonagle
Big Ski Mountain
Acme Truck Leasing
Servpro
LL
N/A
N/A
508-485-9780
866-914-0939 (24/7
Emergency Number)
888-000-3312
800-000-7630
508-485-9780
866-914-0939 (24/7
Emergency Number)
207-000-2694
800-000-5747
207-783-2500
Belfor
Gerry McGonagle
Acme Truck Leasing
N/A
Mutual Aid Partners
Institution
Baptist Church
Congregational Church
Episcopal Church
Phone Number
207-000-5251
207-000-5966
207-000-3381
508-485-9780
866-914-0939 (24/7
Emergency Number)
800-544-5747
Preservation Services
*Found through the American Institute for Conservation
Name
Samantha Couture
Ann Kearney
Location
New York – 220 Miles
New York – 224 Miles
Phone Number
518-377-1163
518-437-3925
American Institute for Conservation Collections Emergency Response Team
*Call 202-661-8068 to get 24 hour assistance from AICCERT
Name
Jon Brandon
Molly O’Guinness Carlson
Institution
East Point Conservation
Head Tide Archaeological
Conservation Laboratory
Phone Number
207-721-0088
207-882-9078
Other Contacts
Institution
Contact’s
Name
N/A
Phone Number
Website
Purpose
N/A
www.cercmaine.org
Northeast Document
Conservation Hotline
American Institute for
Conservation Hotline
N/A
855-245-8303
N/A
N/A
202-661-8068
N/A
Maine State Library
Stephanie
207-287-5620
Zurinski
1-800-322-8899
(Central
ME Library
District
Consultant)
N/A
207-287-2132
N/A
General cultural
disaster
response and
recovery
information
Information on
paper recovery
General cultural
disaster
response
General
guidance on
recovery
N/A
http://mainemuseums.org/
Cultural Emergency
Resource Coalition:
Maine
Maine Historic
Preservation
Commission
Maine Archives and
Museums
207-400-6965
N/A
General
guidance on
recovery of
historic
buildings
General
guidance on
recovery
Phone Tree
WW
207-000-2636
YY
207-000-9070
XX
207-000-9929
WW
207-000-2938
SS
207-000-0735
EE
207-000-3440
LL
207-000-2441
TT
207-000-2702
JJ
207-000-4354
CC
207-000-2337
AA
207-000-9593
KK
207-000-2807
QQ
207-000-3342
MM
207-000-3355
RR
207-000-2645
DD
617-000-3995