Carol,
All of us do appreciate your concern and wish to help.As a Louisiana native with family and friends in the New Orleans area that were affected, I especially am appreciative. It is difficult in times like these to not feel helpless when you want to help your fellow man but on-site support is not an option.
I think we can provide a great deal of help by supporting the Red Cross during this time. You may also try volunteering time with agencies in your area who are supporting the disaster, such as clothing donation centers. They need a lot of help sorting these items before shipment to the disaster area.
In my opinion, ARMA is doing a great deal to help the victims of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. HQ has offered free publications to assist with planning and recovery efforts, and I have heard that they have been working diligently behind the scenes with the Southwest Region to try and locate missing members. We may not be hearing a lot about what ARMA and its chapters are doing to help in this recovery, but be rest assured our members are in action in the true spirit of the ARMA family.
I think the Listserv is also performing a great service.There have been numerous discussions on disaster recovery, whereabouts of RIM professionals, etc.I would like to thank Peter Kurilecz for his RAIN today which included an article about Dr. Chuck Nolan, Archivist of the New Orleans Archdiocese and an ARMA member.A lot of us were very concerned as we had not heard about his status.
I will have to agree with Pat and Larry regarding salvage efforts.I would venture to guess that any records that were submerged for long periods are probably a total loss not just due to the 72-hour recovery time, but also due to the waste and other toxins that were in the water. I would ask the disaster recovery service professionals out there to please correct me if I am wrong.
Given the amount of time records have been submerged and the amount of contamination, I think the use of a volunteer force from ARMA to provide record recovery would now be an unnecessary risk; however, I am sure that the ARMA Board will be discussing this disaster and how they may help with future disasters during their meeting this week. Perhaps Carol you may want to resubmit to the current ARMA Board of Directors whatever papers or plans you submitted in the past so that they may re-evaluate.Given all of the great knowledge transfer that has been going on with this listserv since the disaster, would you mind submitting them here as well?I believe it would be great to share these ideas with the listserv members!
Sincerely,
John P. Frost, CRM
Austin, Texas
-----Original Message-----
From: Carol E.B. Choksy, Ph.D., CRM [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 02:35 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: Re: _FW:_[Ica-l]_ICBS_Statement_on_the_Hurricane_Katrina
Dear Colleagues:
The problems of the disaster will not disappear in a week or a month or six months. The public will begin to get tired of giving money to the Red Cross, but there will still be plenty of things left to do.
The things I had in mind do not involve wading through muck to rescue drowning records, but helping any organization that wants it with information, programs, and maybe even a few strong arms. Yes, we have some information, but can we put together a program for those organizations afflicted to help them with where they will be in a few months and then there they want to go.
I gave the example of the Ohio River flood in Ohio and Kentucky because it was the chapters that championed the solution. Our chapters do a great deal of charitable work as well as paid seminars that are truly remarkable. Why can't we have a network of activities we are all prepared to do?
ARMA has a radar screen, but the idea behind it is that it gets changed every year. You can have an impact on that and so can Hurricane Katrina. Instead of pouring more water on how we can help the victims on our own shores, let's use our imaginations to find innovative ways to help them.
Does the Houston Chapter have plans to help? Can we help chapters on the Gulf Coast? How can we make certain the vital information ARMA does have about recovery gets out there?
Best wishes,
Carol
Carol E.B. Choksy, Ph.D., CRM
CEO
IRAD Strategic Consultant. Inc.
(317) 294-8329
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