South Carolina Emergency Preparedness Training

REGIONAL COURSE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Join cultural heritage organizations in your region, as well as emergency management personnel and government departments, for a multi-faceted course on emergency preparedness.  

By attending this unique training series, you will—over a period of a few short months—prepare your organization to protect cultural heritage materials during the next disaster.

Participants will:

• Create a basic disaster plan and stress test it
• Receive instruction in risk assessment and mitigation, emergency preparedness and response, and related emergency planning topics
• Acquire hands-on experience with salvage techniques for damaged collections
• Build relationships with the institutions nearest you (e.g. to collaborate on policy building and supply purchases)
• Have the opportunity to work together to protect the cultural heritage of your region

Who Should Attend

This course is open to individuals associated with South Carolina cultural heritage organizations, county government departments and personnel, and offices involved with emergency management and public safety.

Registration

There is no cost to attend, but you must register to reserve a seat. Seats are limited to 33 registrants per region. When you register, select a region to train with institutions in your area:

Course Components

Please plan to attend all workshops and webinars in the course, as they build on one another.

• March 2021: Live Online Orientation Meeting with Regional Stakeholders. Attendees will be oriented to the course and will become acquainted with methods for enhancing communication between regional stakeholders, including cultural heritage organizations, county government departments and personnel, and offices involved with emergency management and public safety. Relationship-building and collaboration between stakeholders will be emphasized. 

• April 2021: Three live webinars on foundational emergency preparedness topics, including risk assessment and mitigation, creating a basic disaster plan, emergency preparedness and response, agents of deterioration, and collection salvage techniques. All stakeholders will attend the webinars or view recordings and then complete a basic disaster plan, which will be reviewed by the instructor. 

• May 2021: Hands-on Collections Salvage Workshop. Participants will learn how to prioritize damaged collections as well as receive hands-on training in salvage techniques for wet, smoky, and soot-damaged materials.

*Hands-on Collections Salvage will be offered live online or in-person depending on public health and safety conditions*

• June 2021: Disaster Plan Stress Test Instruction. Stakeholders will complete a table-top exercise (TTX) to stress test their disaster response plans in an instructor-facilitated scenario and identify areas for further improvement. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to discuss mutual-aid opportunities and the development of collaborative disaster assistance teams. 

*Disaster Plan Stress Test Instruction will be offered live online or in-person depending on public health and safety conditions.* 

Course Access

The course components will be held online using Adobe Connect or Zoom, with access provided only to those who have registered.

To access the course, you will need:

• The email address that you registered with.
• A stable, high-speed internet connection. Ethernet or "hard wired" is recommended over WiFi or wireless.
• A computer. A laptop or desktop computer is recommended over a smart phone or tablet.
• A headset or earbuds that includes a microphone is recommended over using your computer's built-in speakers and microphone.
• A webcam or built-in computer camera is recommended so that you can get the most out of discussions and group work.
• You will receive advance instructions for any additional downloads, account set-up, etc. that may be necessary for you to access the conference.

Questions

If you have questions about the program, please contact Preservation Specialist Sean Ferguson [email protected].  

Photograph courtesy of the University of South Carolina University Libraries

This special program is sponsored by the South Carolina State Library and funded by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act.