Introducing WALKER – Safeguarding Cultural Heritage through Evacuation Run Maps

Abstract

The crisis management cycle contains the step Preparedness, in which the development of disaster plans takes place. Run plans for fire fighters are a well-established means for enhancing preparedness in public buildings. A wide array of plans is available, serving to aid firefighters in swiftly orienting themselves during emergency situations on-site. These plans may also include detailed information as needed, providing tactical insights into critical elements within the building. In this practitioner paper, we present the adaptation of run plans to the realm of cultural heritage preservation. We utilize the existing format for the communication of information about the safe handling of cultural heritage to the command staff and the fire fighters. These cultural heritage escape plans offer guidance on the safe handling, evacuation procedures, and the prioritization of cultural heritage items in the case of an emergency and can be added to the existing tactical firefighting plans in public cultural heritage institutions. The evacuation plan format has been developed by the Munich County Fire Fighters and was manually implemented for all cultural heritage objects of the Bavarian Palace Department. The format has proven beneficial. With this format, we aim to enhance the preparedness of cultural heritage sites against natural disasters. Given the inherent sensitivity of cultural heritage objects, which require careful handling, these escape plans encompass instructions for the secure dismantling and evacuation of these items to designated safe areas. Furthermore, we introduce the software WALKER, a specialized tool designed for the creation of evacuation plans tailored to cultural heritage contexts. WALKER has been deployed for test usage for cultural heritage institutions for testing and evaluation of its potential. Both evacuation maps and WALKER are part of an integrated crisis management for cultural heritage and can be classified as part of the Preparedness step in the crisis management cycle. Furthermore, when the plans are implemented during the response, they can also be considered part of the phase Response.