2022

SCHEDULE

Preparedness and Response in Collections Emergencies (PRICE): The Smithsonian’s First Central Collections Emergency Response Team

12:25 p.m. – 1:10 p.m.

| Wednesday, October 19th

Preparedness and Response in Collections Emergencies (PRICE) was established in October 2016 to invigorate collaboration across the Smithsonian’s collecting units, provide a sustainable emergency preparedness program that empowers leaders, and create a culture of collections emergency preparedness. The core PRICE members provide subject-matter expertise, consultation, and assistance to the National Collections Program (NCP), Smithsonian collecting units, and Smithsonian senior management. When activated for an emergency, PRICE provides collections support as requested by NCP as part of the Smithsonian’s Emergency Operations Center.  

 In addition to the core team, three action teams were developed to implement and strengthen collections emergency mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery through the lens of logistics, policy and procedures, and training. These action teams collaborate with Smithsonian units, including the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Office of Safety, Health, and Environmental Management to create and disseminate information to Smithsonian staff. 

 PRICE recently had its fifth birthday. In honor of 5 years of programming, training, policy, and logistic development, PRICE has revamped its website. The new webpages include original training materials, research, webinars, curated resources, and much more. This is part of PRICE’s initiative to share more of our work with the broader cultural heritage field.