Philadelphia to Link Cultural Heritage and City Emergency Operations
A major citywide initiative was announced at the first follow-up meeting to the Philadelphia Alliance for Response Forum. The city’s Managing Director of Emergency Management and Preparedness, Mary Ann Marrocolo, and Commissioner of Records Joan Decker have requested that CEOs of each cultural heritage institution in the Philadelphia area identify an Emergency Management Liaison to serve as the official contact person for emergencies. Marrocolo’s office is also working on incident notification systems for cultural heritage institutions and an official link to the city’s Emergency Operations Center.
The meeting, held September 18 at the Atwater Kent Museum, tracked several key issues from the June 2007 Forum and attracted nearly 40 participants. The group heard updates on a plan for a Geographic Information System (GIS) database of Philadelphia cultural heritage institutions and the creation of the new Delaware Disaster Assistance Team (D-DAT), formed by the Delaware Division of Libraries and the State Archives and Records Center. In other news, the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) is forming a new Disaster Preparedness Committee with improved communications as one of its priorities.
Discussions were also held on the type of assistance and training needed by Philadelphia Alliance for Response members and local learning opportunities. Tom Clareson, Program Director for New Initiatives, PALINET, outlined steps for developing mutual aid agreements, citing model networks in California.
The group is planning to meet again in early December to address “Avoiding Holiday Disasters and Winterizing Your Building.”