Museums prepare for the worst
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PRINCE GEORGE – What do museums and emergency preparedness have in common? Most people would think not a lot. But, when your stock and trade is in dealing with precious and timeless artefacts, being ready to handle what Mother Nature tosses your way is very important. But all-too-often, preparing for an emergency is done from the corner of someone’s desk.
“Museums from across BC and Canada, their mantra is to do more with less. Museums never have enough staff, they never have enough funding. They really have to be creative to do the absolute most with what they have,” says Ryan Hunt, Executive Director for the BC Museum Association, which is hosting its annual general meeting in Prince George this week. “And often emergency planning is something that is very easy to put off because, unless you’re actively experiencing an emergency, it can always wait until tomorrow or next week.”
This morning, a number of delegates were on hand at the Two Rivers Gallery to do some of that training, starting with tabletop exercises.
“That’s to help you in a safe environment to work through a disaster response scenario. So it’s mapping it out,” explains Heidi Swierenga with the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. “From there, you learn what role you might be able to take on. Are you the person who can be a leader in a situation and crisis or are you the person who probably needs to go for the doughnuts?”
