Disaster Readiness Tips for People with Mobility Disabilities
To be better prepared as a nation, we all must do our part to plan for
disasters. Individuals, with or without disabilities, can decrease the impact
of a disaster by taking steps to prepare BEFORE an event occurs. Results from
focus groups conducted by the National Organization on Disability's Emergency
Preparedness Initiative (EPI), indicate that people with disabilities need to
be more self reliant in emergencies.
You are in the best position to know your abilities and needs before, during,
and after a disaster. There are many sample planning templates and checklists
available to guide you. However, your plans must fit your own unique
circumstances.
This brochure is designed to help people with mobility disabilities begin to
plan. The term "mobility disabilities" refers primarily to persons who have
little or no use of their legs or arms. They generally use wheelchairs,
scooters, walkers, canes, and other devices as aids to movement.
Be sure to use the additional resources listed on the back, including NOD's
general brochure, "Prepare Yourself: Disaster Readiness Tips for People with
Disabilities." Identify your resources, make a plan, and create a "ready kit"
and a "go bag". Start today to become better prepared, safer and more secure.
Preparedness
Assessment
Learn about hazards that may impact your community (blizzards, earthquakes,
tornados, hurricanes, floods, etc.) You can get information from your State and
local Emergency Management Agency (EMA) or Homeland Security Office by visiting
their website. If you don't have computer access, you can obtain much of this
information through brochures from these offices.
Personal Support Network
Create a network of trusted individuals, such as family, friends, co-workers,
personal attendants, etc. who can assist you during an emergency. Set up this
network at important locations (e.g. home, work, school) making sure you have
at least three people at each place. These individuals should take part in your
planning and be familiar with your functional abilities and limitations.
Establishing a solid relationship with other people is one of the most
effective means of surviving a disaster.
Evacuation
If you believe the weather or other hazard directly threatens you, leave your
home or workplace. If officials order a mandatory evacuation, you must leave.
Remaining in the face of a known hazard puts you in danger. Don't expect rescue
at the height of an emergency: first responders cannot risk their own lives
driving into a chemical cloud or against hurricane-force winds. Long before the
evacuation order, set aside money and supplies. It's tough to do on a tight
budget, but your life is at stake.
Tip: Plan with your support network for a quick evacuation.
Fire - the Deadliest Threat
No disaster is more frequent or deadly than fire for a person with a mobility
disability. Contact your fire department for help in evacuation planning, but
make sure the advice fits your needs. Besides the usual advice about home fire
safety, such as buying and maintaining smoke alarms and fire extinguishers,
follow these tips for people with mobility disabilities:
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Buy clothing, linens, and blankets made of fire-resistant material
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Arrange furniture so it does not obstruct a quick exit
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Attach a small go-bag to wheelchair or walker
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Contact support network members to help you if you must evacuate a building by
stairway
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Memorize a few critical phrases to quickly explain your situation to first
responders or write it down
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Practice your plan regularly
Multi-Story Buildings
The tragedy of September 11, 2001, focused the attention of people with
disabilities on the potential for fire in and evacuation from skyscrapers.
However, the threat is just as real, when the fire alarm rings and the
elevators stop in a smaller, multi-story building. Evacuation plans must be in
place for small and large multi-story buildings.
Evacuation Devices
Several companies make products to assist evacuation of wheelchair users or
others with severe mobility disabilities. The best-known are lightweight chairs
used to carry a person down a stairway. A man with quadriplegia safely
evacuated the World Trade Center using such a device with the help of several
co-workers.
Cautions and Concerns About Evacuation Devices
If your building has not purchased evacuation devices, take responsibility to
educate the facility's manager. Using these devices requires training and can
not be left for the last minute. Finally, an evacuation device is NOT a
substitute for a wheelchair, so plan how to get along if you must abandon your
wheelchair.
Evacuation devices are not universally accepted by all fire service and
emergency management leaders. There is still a need to raise the awareness of
emergency professionals about the benefits of these devices.
Areas of Refuge
Many fire chiefs do support the concept of an area of refuge, a temporary
shelter-in-place area in an office or public building. It can be as simple as a
stairwell, where wheelchair users and others gather to await rescue. Many
modern buildings include a refuge area protected by flame retardants and
equipped with two-way communication. Since September 11th, many people with
disabilities have expressed reluctance to depend on areas of refuge, wanting to
evacuate with everyone else. This may not always be possible, so learn the
location of your building's designated refuge areas.
Sheltering
Sheltering in Place
If you're home when a sudden disaster occurs, you may take shelter there, where
all is familiar and resources are close. It is important to keep a
battery-operated radio and/or TV with you so that you can listen and follow
directions from officials about steps to take. Contact members of your personal
support network and keep them informed of your actions and any changes in your
condition. If possible, go to an above-ground, interior room without windows.
General and "Special Needs/Medical" Shelters
Unless you have other severe disabilities, you should have little difficulty as
a person with a mobility disability staying in a public shelter for a short
time. People with more serious needs might have to use the nearest "special
needs" shelter, where medical issues can receive appropriate attention.
Conditions in a shelter (usually a school building or an auditorium) are
crowded, noisy, and boring. But these facilities, in most cases operated by the
local American Red Cross chapters or faith-based agencies, can save your life.
Persons with mobility disabilities have a right under the Americans with
Disabilities Act to use general public shelters. However, the reality is that
many shelters are still inaccessible to people with mobility disabilities, so
try to determine the status of the facility before you arrive. Wheelchair and
scooter users may need assistance in transferring to and from a sleeping cot.
People who use walkers or crutches might require aid navigating through a
tightly-packed shelter. Staff in a general public shelter can assist you with
these tasks, but cannot perform more complex, medically related procedures or
activities of daily living.
Service Animals
Some persons with mobility disabilities use a service animal, usually a dog, to
help them with everyday activities. Federal regulations allow you to take your
service animal into the shelter. Be prepared to explain this to the staff,
because pets are not permitted. You have the responsibility to care for your
companion animal while the two of you are in shelter.
Ready Kit and Go Bag
A Ready Kit is a comprehensive supply of items that you will need if you should
have to shelter in place, or rely on your own resources for a few days. A Go
Bag has fewer items, but they are most essential to take if you must evacuate
quickly.
See the N.O.D. guide, "Prepare Yourself: Disaster Readiness Tips for People
with Disabilities," for a list of suggested supplies. The American Red Cross
also has a comprehensive checklist of supplies. Here are a few items of
particular interest to people with mobility disabilities:
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Pair of heavy gloves to use while wheeling or making your way over glass and
debris
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Extra battery for your motorized wheelchair or scooter
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Jumper cables or specific recharging device to be connected to an automobile's
cigarette lighter
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Patch kit or can of "seal-in-air product" to repair flat tires
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Spare cane or walker
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Food, medicine, favorite toy, and other care items for your service animal
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Plastic bags, disposable gloves, and other items for the animal's care
Where to Find More Information
Many of these agencies provide materials in large font, audio or video cassette
formats, and different languages.
American Red Cross
www.redcross.org
call your local chapter
Center for Disability Issues and the Health Profession, Western University
of Health Sciences
evac@westernu.edu
(909) 469-5380 (voice)
(909) 469-5520 (TTY).
Easter Seals (s.a.f.e.t.y. First program)
www.easter-seals.org
(800)221-6827 (voice)
(312)726-4258 (TTY)
Federal Emergency Management Agency
http://www.fema.gov/preparedness/
(800)480-2520 (voice)
Humane Society of the U.S. (Disaster Center)
www.hsus.org/hsus_field/hsus_disaster_center/
(202)452-1100 (voice)
National Organization on Disability
www.nod.org/emergency
(202)293-5960 (voice)
(202)293-5968 (TTY)
National Spinal Cord Research Association Resource Center on Emergency
Preparedness
www.spinalcord.org
(800) 962-9629 (voice)
NOAA Weather Radio
www.weather.gov/nwer/special_needs.htm
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
www.ready.gov
(800)BE READY (voice)
(800)464-6161 (TTY)
U.S. Fire Administration
www.usfa.fema.gov/safety/atrisk/
(301)447-1000 (voice)
United Spinal Association
www.unitedspinal.org
(718) 803-3782 (voice)