Polygon Sponsors CoSA Emergency Preparedness Series

As the owner or manager of an archives or records center, you can hope that you and your colleagues never have to experience an emergency situation. But all the hoping in the world won’t prevent flooding, fires, and other emergency scenarios from occurring. That’s why it’s essential that archivists have emergency plans in place. Polygon and the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) have teamed up to create a series of emergency preparedness documents that will give your organization the information it needs to put together a plan for when an emergency scenario damages your important documents.

This series from CoSA, sponsored by Polygon, consists of four documents packed with information to give archivists the knowledge they need to secure and recover essential records when they have been damaged by natural or human-caused emergencies.

“These resources are based on CoSA’s work for the Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER) Project, which trained state and local government officials in every state and territory in emergency preparedness and ensuring the safety of essential records,” a CoSA administrative coordinator and former IPER trainer said. “We are pleased we’ve been able to repurpose this information.”

4 Documents to Cover the 4 “R’s”

The series is based around what CoSA and Polygon call “The 4 R’s,” which include risk, readiness, response, and recovery. The first of the four documents provides an overview of each R.

The second provides a more in-depth look into risk and readiness. Identifying risk and taking action to reduce it can go a long way for the preservation records over time. Readiness is all about the plans and policies that an organization has in place, enabling that organization to mitigate disastrous situations and preserve its valuable documents.

“Response and Recovery,” the third document, covers the third and fourth R’s. An organization’s response is crucial to the protection of documents during a disaster. Split-second decisions can make all the difference when responding to an emergency. The recovery phase should be moving towards normalcy. Assessing the damage, filing claims, and taking the necessary steps to return to normal operations are all part of recovery.

The final document includes infographics and statistics to guide your organization as it prepares for emergencies. As your organization puts together an emergency preparedness plan, consult these helpful documents. They also offer links to other valuable resources. Visit the CoSA website now to download all four documents in this series.

Polygon is an industry-leading document recovery provider that can help you when disaster strikes. Our team has the expertise and technology to restore damaged documents. Make us a part of your disaster plan and contact our team today.