Evaluate your own institution and make sure your disaster plan is current. In the process of updating your plan, take a look at your resources (equipment, supplies, space, staff, etc.) and think about how you might be able to share those with your larger community in a disaster.

Explore the free tools available in FAIC's comprehensive Risk Evaluation and Planning Program (REPP). Using the REPP tools, Georgia Heritage Responders worked with local emergency managers to develop a number of different spreadsheets on Critical Facilities (Historic & Cultural). See also:

Watch the archived Connecting to Collections webinar Risk Evaluation: First Step in Disaster Planning and host a meeting to discuss important points

Host a disaster plan writing clinic.

• Florida Connecting to Collections 2012: Developing Emergency Plans, a self-paced program

Design online educational resources about protecting cultural heritage.

Hold a fire safety program on performance-based planning and museum, library, and historic house fire codes.

Sponsor “table-top” training exercises adapted for museums and libraries.

• Library of Congress tabletop exercises

Sponsor disaster training sessions for cultural heritage institutions that include a practice drill.

Watch the archived Connecting to Collections webinars on emergency preparedness and response and host a meeting to discuss important points.

• Protecting Your Collections: Writing a Disaster Response Plan
• Exercising Your Disaster Response Plan

Hold a workshop on insurance and appraisal for cultural institutions

Learn valuable information by reading about lessons learned following a disaster with an after-action review (AAR). They provide an analysis of what happened, why it happened, and what was learned, with the goal of improving future performance.

Become familiar with the process of applying for federal disaster assistance following a major disaster.

Develop a regional disaster supply cache. See also Mutual Aid Agreements.

• AFR Pittsburgh Disaster Supply Cache
• BAMAN – Bay Area Mutual Aid Network

Develop a disaster plan exchange program with members of another network as back-up repositories in case of disaster.

Develop a buddy network outside of your region to provide support and assistance when a major disaster strikes.

Develop a cultural SWAT team composed of emergency response and preservation experts to aid institutions in the event of major disasters like the AFR NYC: Heritage Response Team.

Create a master database of cultural institutions in the area to improve communications during “peacetime” but especially following a disaster.

Adapt CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training for cultural institutions and historic sites.

Explore the emergency preparedness resources available from the Small Business Administration (SBA)

Help your organization develop an effective social media and disaster communication strategy.