The paper presented by Lois Price and Joelle Wickens examined current training techniques implemented at the Winterthur University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC) and their evolution to take into account the role of adrenaline in disaster response.
Initial training consisted of rotations through the different labs and discussions of possible issues before stepping up to muck up drills. The results of this training was mixed, showing that participants were able to recover objects, but that assessment of the materials before their movement was compromised as the goal became more a mission to get objects out of harms way and less about documentation and evaluation.
With this knowledge in hand, training methods were reassessed to try and bring assessment to the forefront; as good assessment aids in the long term success of disaster recovery.
The new method of approach looked to combine soft training, ie discussions in a classroom setting with an assessment only drill followed by a wet artifact recovery training session.
This ordering of training allowed first for discussions of all rolls in a disaster response plan, in a controlled environment without the risk of adrenaline. It forced holistic thinking of an entire situation.
The assessment workshop placed students is a mock disaster and forced assessment only of objects, no recovery. It was crafted to include numerous object issues, as well as registration issues that all should be taken into account during the recovery process. By increasing the complexity of the objects that students were assessing the importance of documentation and registration processes were reinforced. This reinforcement helped strengthen the importance of the assessment process in students’ minds and drive home that without through assessment good recovery is almost impossible.
After the assessment drill wet object recovery training further reinforced this training. Objects were first assed while dry before they were wetted out, reassessed, and then the training on handling was done. Students were then given unseen objects; removing the opportunity for the first assessment and introducing the students to the object in “trouble”.
This method of training helped students to see the importance of assessment and clarified the fact that slowing down is truly the key to effective response.
This talk was fascinating for me after being brought in for disaster recovery at the Glasgow School of Art during my final year of graduate school. In analyzing what went on with the materials in that situation and listen to the training techniques used at WUDPAC, I can say with some confidence that such training would have made me better prepared for that situation. While nothing can truly prepare you for the real thing, the repetition on the importance of assessment is helping prepare the students for situations we can hope they never have to face, but if they do, they may enter with an idea of how to initially respond.
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AIC Blog Archives: Conservators Converse
Former Blog of the American Institute for Conservation