June 1, 2006

Disaster Preparedness

I was just talking with a colleague who works in New Orleans about disaster preparedness plans. As you may imagine, her library (nay, her entire workplace) has a rather detailed plan in place these days, and they've all just registered with GMail accounts to keep in touch should they be dispersed again.

It got me to thinking about MPOW - we do not, that I am aware of, have any disaster preparedness plans other than exit signs and clearly-marked fire extinguishers. We don't face the same kinds of natural disasters a lot of other places do (no earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, or blizzards, and very rarely do we face flooding), so I began to wonder about what other kinds of disasters should we be planning for.

After going through dust storms, locusts, and a plague of tourists I realized, hello, we're right next to a large Air Force base, and the largest repository of combat aircraft in the nation. We're also a stone's throw from the border. Instead of planning for hurricanes or earthquakes, should we be planning for terrorist attacks? What about a pandemic - what will we do if that happens?

It's made me rather nervous (then again, maybe it's the coffee today) - but I'm determined to find out if there is, in fact, a plan in place here at MPOW. If there is, I should darned well know about it, and if there isn't, maybe there should be?

Do you have disaster preparedness plans? Are you setting up some way to keep in touch with your people should something happen?

Currently 96° and hummingbird-y. (I love having a window.)

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