Disaster Preparedness Resources: September is National Preparedness Month

Is your library disaster ready?  With wild fires occurring in every state of the Pacific Northwest Region emergency preparedness is especially important for those being affected in these areas and libraries can play an important role.  September is National Preparedness Month (NPM) and the theme for this year is Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.  Communication is an important part of the emergency plan whether it is preparing an emergency kit, an evacuation plan, or what to do in case of separation. Libraries have played an important part in disaster recovery, often being a place of refuge in the aftermath. But libraries can assist before the disaster by providing information and programs to inform their communities to better prepare for such emergencies by keeping them aware of the resources available and providing opportunities to create disaster plans which can lead to a smoother recovery and may lessen the losses during a disaster whether natural or human created. Such steps don’t necessarily eliminate the stress and anxiety associated with such events but it can help reduce it as well as reduce the impact. The National Library of Medicine provides a wealth of resources in disaster planning for libraries.  MedlinePlus contains information for all sorts of disasters and an array of information for the public. DIMRC (Disaster Information Management Resource Center) contains information to prepare libraries to become educated and informed abou...
Source: Dragonfly - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Emergency Preparedness Training & Education Source Type: news