Open Forum

Duck!

But seriously, we went through this kind of planning at one of the museums I worked for.  We brought in reps. from the local PD and they helped us develop scenarios from active shooters, to terrorist threats, to sudden natural disasters.  I think it is a good drill to go through.  Here we have only planned for major hurricanes.  I think more broad disaster/emergency training is in order.  Thanks for bringing the subject to the forum.

Starting with contacting your local law enforcement agency is a start.  they have some good information.  Hopefully they will put you in contact with the local or regional Explosive Ordinance Disposal-EOD or Hazardous Device Disposal-HDD team for your area.  These groups have some very specific requests above what a local agency may have.  

Being a military and civil aviation museum, we have been faced with similar situations.  We have had day/night life raft flares, individual aircrew member penlight flare packets, ammunition, bail out oxygen bottles, etc. included in donations.  But so far no live hand grenades.

You should also check and see who will be the Incident Commanded for various emergencies at your museum, i.e., fire, building collapse, immediate electrical hazards, active shooters, etc.  That way you will also know the agency to contact for those types of emergencies and what they specifically what or need..

Good morning,

I think that having the conversation with your local police and fire departments is an excellent idea. Knowing their response protocols and capabilities can be very helpful in developing your response model.

 While the likelihood of someone showing up with a grenade or some other explosive/incendiary device is low, it certainly isn't impossible and unfortunately you simply can't write every possible scenario into your Emergency Action Plan. The key to success in these types of situations is thinking about and learning how to adapt your existing plan to the situation at hand. If we use the grenade as an example; your bomb threat procedure should include action items associated with locating an actual or suspicious device and you could adapt those actions to the grenade coming into the building. Isolate the device, call 911, evacuate personnel to a safe distance and protect the scene and potential evidence if possible. Keep in mind that it really doesn't even have to be an explosive device to generate this type of response, there are caustic and bio substances that would warrant the same response.

I'm glad that you are thinking beyond the conventional, emergency response requires critical thought.

Hello,

Thanks for the responses. While we've only talked about these scenarios within staff, bringing in the local PD would be a good idea. I've seen live grenades within collections before, as well as other dangerous objects and substances. It's a hazard of the job and I brought it up so our staff is aware that this is a real (even though it sounds crazy) situation that can happen. What we talked about doing in such a case, is what Kenneth recommended, so glad to see we are on the right track.

Thanks again!