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Disaster
Preparedness and People with Disabilities
or Special Health Care Needs
Winter 2002
Having a plan to help you deal with
a disaster -- whether it is an earthquake, flood, tornado, or other catastrophe
-- is especially important if your family includes someone with a disability.
To be prepared:
1.
Create a disaster plan.
2. Set up a support network.
3. Educate
members of your network about your disaster plan.
1.
CREATE A DISASTER PLAN.
Make a plan, and keep copies near
to hand at home, in your billfold, at school or work, in your car. Give a
copy to each person in your support network. In addition to general preparedness
issues, a plan for someone with disabilities or special health care needs
should include:
Contact information for
you and for members of your support network. For each, include local information,
and also a contact person at least 100 miles from your community, in case
events affect a large area.
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Health care information: |
- Special health conditions and care routines.
- Contact information for key health care providers.
- Information on necessary technology (dialysis, portable oxygen, etc.).
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- Medication information (prescriptions, doses, timing, contact information
for prescribing physicians).
- Information on alternate sources of life-sustaining care (such as
dialysis).
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Information about special assistance
you may require in a disaster:
- Personal care ( bathing, dressing, eating).
- Transportation.
- Help with clean up of debris.
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- Alternate sources of basic services: water, heat, electricity (and
whether electrical supply affects essential equipment -- oxygen, dialysis,
etc.).
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The location of your disaster
kit:
- For general kit contents, see FEMA or Red Cross resources below.
- Extra devices: Orthotics; glasses; contact lenses, solution; hearing
aide, batteries.
- Prescription medications (7-day supply).
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- Mobility aids (cane, walker, wheelchair batteries, repair supplies);
other essential equipment.
- If you have a service animal: food, water dish, leash/harness, collar,
ID tags.
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Your evacuation plan: Have
a plan for getting out of any location in which you often find yourself, such
as home, office, gym, school, etc.
- If you need help to leave a location, set up in advance a way to get
that help.
- Plan several evacuation routes; some may be blocked.
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- If you rely on elevators or ramps, know how you will leave the building
if these are damaged.
- Be sure your network knows how to operate your wheelchair if you use
one.
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2.
SET UP A SUPPORT NETWORK.
It is important to ask people --
family, friends, teachers, coworkers -- ahead of time to be part of your support
network. Include at least two (three is better) people from each location in
which you often find yourself.
3.
EDUCATE MEMBERS OF YOUR NETWORK ABOUT YOUR DISASTER PLAN.
Give people in your network a copy
of your disaster plan, and discuss it. Update the plan as needed, and share
updates with your network. Many communities have disaster management agencies
that keep a registry to help them assist people with disabilities or special
needs during a disaster. If your city does this, register with this agency.
For more detailed information
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