Open Forum

Good morning!

Our Museum is beginning the process of revamping our emergency procedures and we want to make sure we are inclusive of all experiences when writing these plans. Do you have written emergency procedures that thoughtfully include how best to assist visitors with varying disabilities or do you know of a Museum that has well-written procedures? While we will make sure to include user-experts in the disability field, along with local police and fire resources, we are also looking to peers for input. If you are willing to share, we would love to take a look and use as a guideline as we move forward. 

Thanks for any help or suggestions you have! Please feel free to email me at ladiamond@wustl.edu or reply to this thread. 

Cheers!

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Lauren Diamond
Visitor Services and Membership Coordinator
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
Saint Louis MO
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Lauren,

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Richard Rotanz PhD
Setauket NY
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I would love to know as well. We address mobility issues in our evacuation procedures, but nothing else. It would be interesting to know how other institutions have addressed accessibility/disability in emergency planning.

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Amber Glen
Administrative Assistant
State of Alaska Division of Libraries, Archives, & Museums
Juneau, Alaska
amber.glen@alaska.gov
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To echo Amber, I'd be interested in this as well.  Our cross-departmental accessibility team was just talking about emergency procedures for people with various types of disabilities.

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Betsy Matt Turner MPA
Vice President of Strategic Advancement
Putnam Museum and Science Center
Davenport IA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2022 12:51 PM
From: Amber Glen
Subject: Emergency Procedures and Accessibility

I would love to know as well. We address mobility issues in our evacuation procedures, but nothing else. It would be interesting to know how other institutions have addressed accessibility/disability in emergency planning.

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Amber Glen
Administrative Assistant
State of Alaska Division of Libraries, Archives, & Museums
Juneau, Alaska
amber.glen@alaska.gov
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A good starting point for emergency egress planning inclusive of disabled people is the National Fire Protection Association's Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide: https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/Public-Education/By-topic/Disabilities/EvacuationGuidePDF.ashx The language referring to disabled people is a bit dated but the planning advice is sound.

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Beth Ziebarth
Deputy Head Diversity Officer and Director, Access Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution
Washington DC
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2022 01:32 PM
From: Betsy Matt Turner
Subject: Emergency Procedures and Accessibility

To echo Amber, I'd be interested in this as well.  Our cross-departmental accessibility team was just talking about emergency procedures for people with various types of disabilities.

------------------------------
Betsy Matt Turner MPA
Vice President of Strategic Advancement
Putnam Museum and Science Center
Davenport IA
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2022 12:51 PM
From: Amber Glen
Subject: Emergency Procedures and Accessibility

I would love to know as well. We address mobility issues in our evacuation procedures, but nothing else. It would be interesting to know how other institutions have addressed accessibility/disability in emergency planning.

------------------------------
Amber Glen
Administrative Assistant
State of Alaska Division of Libraries, Archives, & Museums
Juneau, Alaska
amber.glen@alaska.gov

Lauren-

A good resource to turn to would be the International Facility Managers Association. In St. Louis - at least as of a few years ago when I was still there - the facility managers at the various cultural institutions regularly met under the aegis of the IFMA banner and discussed a wide range of topics, this among them. Ask the Kemper's facility/operations manager to bring this up at the next such cultural institutions group meeting (or ask if you might tag along for the discussion!). If (s)/he is an IFMA member, ask to do a resource dive into this topic in the IFMA archives, or attend the local IFMA chapter meeting. If your facility manager isn't an IFMA member, contact the counterpart at one of the ZMD institutions (SLAM, Science Center, Zoo, MoBot). And, naturally, talk with the folks over at Paraquad. Good luck!

-John

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John Wharton
Museum Docent &
Retired Museum Professional
Bonita Springs FL
http://linkedin.com/in/john-wharton-9629149
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Although it didn't specifically focus on accessibility, you may find it helpful to watch a webinar hosted by the Association of Science and Technology Centers and the Association of Children's Museums in July, along with a set of resources about developing and updating emergency and disaster plans.

The recording and resources are available at https://www.astc.org/conference-event/emergency-and-disaster-preparedness-in-museums/

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Adam Fagen
Director of Communications and Advocacy
Association of Science-Technology Centers
Washington DC
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