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Individual Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities,
Their Families and Support Networks

Emergency preparedness for people with disabilities and activity limitations must integrate the users’ economic, physical, social and communication realities!

June Isaacson Kailes, Disability Policy Consultant

Guides

Emergency Preparedness at Home for People with Disabilities: Guidelines 2006, last accessed 01.29.10
Short piece [2007], contents include:

Getting information
Creating a plan
Preparing a kit

Emergency Power Planning for People Who Use Electricity and Battery Dependent Assistive Technology and Medical Devices, From June Kailes [2009], format: PDF, contents include:

Emergency power planning checklist is for people who use electricity and battery dependent assistive technology and medical devices. Electricity and battery-dependent devices include:

breathing machines (respirators, ventilators),
power wheelchairs and scooters, and
oxygen, suction or home dialysis equipment.

Some of this equipment is essential to your level of independence while other equipment is vital to keeping you
alive! Use the checklist below to make power-backup plans.
This document also contains:

how to establish a support team,
how to master the skill of giving quick information on how best to help you,

advice from users, and
sources for more information.

Emergency Preparedness: Taking Responsibility For Your Safety - Tips for People with Activity Limitations and Disabilities
Los Angeles County Emergency Survival Program [2006], Formats: PDF, Microsoft Word 1 & 2, last accessed 01.29.10
Content include:

why prepare?
ability self-assessment
establish a support team
create emergency plans
disability-specific supplies for emergency supplies kits / go kits and check lists
out-of-state contact list form
emergency supplies kits

Emergency Evacuation Preparedness: Taking Responsibility For Your Safety, A Guide For People with Disabilities and Other Activity Limitations - last accessed 01.29.10
From June Kailes [2002], contents includes:

avoid avoidance
evacuation preparedness: take responsibility for your safety

create, review and practice plans

fire department issues

emergency health information

evaluate your need to identify as someone who requires assistance during an evacuation
master the skill of giving quick information on how to best assist you
establish a personal support network
ability self-assessment
emergency evacuation options
resources

Reprint any of the written text attached for your web sites, listservs, and mailing lists.

Personal Emergency Preparedness: Who Are Your People? last accessed 01.29.10
[2006] contents include planning for your support teams, i.e. personal relationships.

DISASTER! If you have a disability, the forces of nature can be meaner to you than anyone else. But you can fight back. Be prepared, Mainstream magazine. November 1994. last accessed 01/30/08

Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities, American Red Cross PDF format. last accessed 01.29.10

Disaster Preparedness Tips for PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, [English and Spanish] by June Kailes - Although these "Tip Sheets" focus on earthquake safety, they are useful for all types of disaster preparedness: power outages, fires, floods, hurricanes, nuclear power plant accidents, tornados, tsunamis, volcanoes, winter storms and very cold or very hot weather. last accessed 01.29.10

1.    People With Disabilities
2.    Collecting Emergency Documents
3.    Creating an Emergency Health Information Card
4.    People With Visual Disabilities
5.    People Who Are Hearing Impaired
6.    People With Cognitive Disabilities
7.    People With Environmental Illness or Chemical Sensitivities
8.    People With Mobility Disabilities
9.    People Who Use Life Support Systems
10. People With Communication and Speech Related Disabilities
11. People With Psychiatric Disabilities
12. Service Animals and Pet Owners

Emergency Procedures for Employees with Disabilities in Office Occupancies, PDF (1.3 MB) , Text (59 KB) provide information for facilities managers and may be useful for those individuals who might need specific assistance as to the notification of an emergency situation and/or in the evacuation of a building. last accessed 01.29.10 [1994]

Evacuation and Accommodation of People with Disabilities - Project Safe EV-AC - posted 11/23/06

Individual Pack - information for people with disabilities regarding right to accommodation
In Advance - Information regarding planning for personnel training, site preparation, and acquisition of tools and equipment

Evacuation Issues For People With Disabilities Workshop – National Organization on Disability - watch and listen! - last accessed 01.29.10

Food Supplies

USDA’s Guide to understanding how long you can safety store food - last accessed 2.14.10
Best If Used By Guidance from USDA - PDF, last accessed 02.14.10

Prepare in a Year – one hour each month helps you be ready for disasters whenever they occur. last accessed 01.29.10, from the Emergency Management Division, State of Washington

Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities - Available in Spanish Formats: PDF, TXT, last accessed 01.29.10, [2004] from FEMA

Psychological Preparedness for Stressful Events - from the virginia.gov last accessed 02.14.10

Hazard Specific

Fire

Fire Risks Series: Fire Risks for Older Adults, FEMA & US Fire Administration, 1999. PDF Format, last accessed 01/30/08

Impact of 2003 Wildfires on People with Disabilities, Format: Word, Posted 12.26.09

NFPA's Center for High Risk Outreach, last accessed 01/30/08

Earthquakes

Earthquake! Coping with the aftermath can be a disaster too, for people with disabilities Mainstream magazine, (1994). last accessed 01/30/08 book cover

Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country, 10/85 English and Spanish, last accessed 01/17/08 - includes:

Taking Control
The big picture
The anatomy of a safe building
Home safe home
Your Personal Safety
Life with Foreshocks, Mainshocks and Aftershocks
Common Earthquake Myths

Earthquake Information from U.S. Geological Survey Pasadena Office , last accessed 01/30/08, includes minute by minute current information, including:

Earthquake Probabilities Report
Current Earthquake Information
Earthquake Commentary & Special Reports
Current GPS Monitoring
Ground Motion Shake Maps

Living and Lasting on Shaky Ground: An Earthquake Preparedness Guide for People with Disabilities, 1996, 147 pages.
Format PDF: A, B, C, D, E, F

Posted 04/16/08

Provides practical and disability-specific information used as a preparation tool for individuals with disabilities, their friends, families and service providers. Guide also serves as a training tool kit for disability-related organizations who offer workshops on earthquake preparedness for people with disabilities.

Topics includes: understanding why preparation is important, creating practical plans, identifying resources, developing strategies and putting plans into practice.

Lessons Documented

Disabled People and Disaster Planning a group of people primarily from Los Angeles County who met during 1996 and 1997 and formulated recommendations to reduce problems with accessibility that many people with disabilities experienced after the Northridge Earthquake of 1994. This group included individuals with disabilities and individuals from the disaster planning and response professions. last accessed 01/17/08

Disaster Preparedness For Persons With Disabilities Improving California's Response: A Report by The California Department of Rehabilitation, April 1997. last accessed 01/17/08

Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Communication Access: Lessons Learned Since 9/11 and Recommendations the work of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network (DHHCAN), The report represents an extensive summary of personal experiences by individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing on the fateful day of September 11, 2001 and thereafter under different circumstances. last accessed 12.26.09

September 11, 2001: A Day to Remember, New Mobility, 11/0, last accessed 01/17/08

Unsafe Refuge, Why did so many wheelchair users die on Sept. 11? New Mobility, 12/01, last accessed 01/17/08

Why We Don't Prepare Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Wildfires, Earthquakes ..., by AMANDA RIPLEY/ BOULDER, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2006, Time Magazine –An excellent and thought provoking article. Word Format

Videos

"How To" video clips: last accessed 04/13/08

Strengths: good visuals, limited, but not full, captioning and audio descriptions.
Weaknesses:
Access Issues: not fully captioned or audio described, text on slides is not narrated, only available in English

Turning Off….*

How to turn off electricity at the circuit box – 48 seconds
How to turn off residential water – 51 seconds

Personal Safety and How to...*

Draining your hot water heater (extra water during a disaster) 1.23 minutes
Using a fire extinguisher – 2.05 minutes
Personal safety near downed power lines – 1.24 minutes

How to Secure...*

Trip to the hardware store – 2.09 minutes
Finding a wall stud – 1.04 minutes
Securing a bookcase with hardware – 1.58 minutes
Securing a bookcase with Velcro straps – 2.14 minutes
Securing wall hangings – 2.07 minutes
Securing cabinets – 2.37 minutes
Securing dishes – 1.20 minutes

4 Preparedness Videos last accessed11.7.09

3 Steps to Get Ready - 3 Minutes
Older Americans – 5 minutes
American with Disabilities – 5 minutes
Pets – 5 minutes (Weakness: Assumes people know what shelters will be open prior to an event. Strength: Shows how tiny an animal identification chip is.

Strengths: good visuals, text of transcripts available
Weaknesses:
Access Issues: not captioned or audio described, text on slides is not narrated, only available in English
Content:

Old advices regarding you are on your own for 3 days –verses new advice – it very well may be longer – 7 days.
Assumes you have extra medications to store and economic means to afford to buy supplies
Kits seems very heavy to carry unless you are driving are driving.

Business Not As Usual: Preparing for a Pandemic Flu 30 minutes, Access Issues: not captioned or audio described, text on slides is not narrated, only available in English - last accessed 11.7.09

Emergency Car Kit: 10 Essentials for a Road Evacuation - 2 minutes, last accessed 02.5.10, Access Issues: not captioned, but text transcript is included on the web page!

Specific Functional Need Focus

Chemical Sensitivities and Allergies, last accessed 01/17/08

HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filtration) Filter Fans

Once you have sealed a room with plastic sheeting and duct tape you may have created a better barrier between you and any contaminants that may be outside. However, no seal is perfect and some leakage is likely. In addition to which, you may find yourself in a space that is already contaminated to some degree.

Consider a portable air purifier, with a HEPA filter, to help remove contaminants from the room where you are sheltering. These highly efficient filters have small sieves that can capture very tiny particles, including some biological agents. Once trapped within a HEPA filter contaminants cannot get into your body and make you sick. While these filters are excellent at filtering dander, dust, molds, smoke, biological agents and other contaminants, they will not stop chemical gases.

Some people, particularly those with severe allergies and asthma, use HEPA filters in masks, portable air purifiers as well as in larger home or industrial models to continuously filter the air.

Why Asbestos is a Threat After a Natural Disaster

Throughout most of the twentieth century asbestos was widely used in construction materials. Over time, these materials degrade and may become damaged due to a number of forces, such as renovation, remodeling, or unexpected natural disasters. Asbestos exposure is a major concern because the material is highly toxic and is known to cause a variety of disabilities and terminal diseases, including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Unfortunately, these diseases are almost always diagnosed in late stages of development after receiving a mesothelioma prognosis, and are highly resistant to treatment. For example, a treatment rarely acts as a mesothelioma cure because the cancer is so aggressive, and in most cases it is diagnosed far too late.

The Mesothelioma Cancer Center provides information on what steps to take prior to, and after each particular natural disaster occurs—in order to help prevent exposure to asbestos.

Fires
Earthquakes
Floods
Hurricanes
Tornados

Permanently removing asbestos from the home can be extremely expensive. However, companies such as GLOBAL Encasement, Inc. have begun making extremely affordable, environmentally friendly products that are designed to manage hazardous materials, including asbestos, lead-based paint, mold and mildew. Posted 02.21.09

Disaster Preparedness for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind People - Video is signed and captioned, last accessed 12.26.09

Videos with ASL interpreters advising how to prepare for and cope with emergencies. The 18 videos also have an audible voice over and text appearing alongside the interpreter. Along with the videos is the Emergency Preparedness Guide formatted in Braille, large print, and regular font for download. Last accessed 12.26.09

Receiving Information in an Emergency from Community Emergency Preparedness Network (Formats: PDF) posted 12.26.09 <>

National Fire Protection Association’s comprehensive guide on Smoke Alarms for People Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing, (Format: PDF), last accessed 12.26.09

Limited Speech: Preparedness Checklist last accessed 09/18/08

Service Animal Emergency Preparedness, last accessed 01/17/08

Forms, Checklists, Tools, Sample, etc. (Format Microsoft Word), Posted 04/15/08

Grab & Go List

Emergency Health Information guides you through developing your emergency health information. You should keep copies of this information in your wallet (behind driver's license or official identification card) and emergency kits. It tells rescuers important information about you if they find you unconscious, or unable to provide information. It contains information about your medications, equipment, allergies, communication difficulties, preferred treatment and medical providers, and important contact people. Formats: PDF, Microsoft Word.

Emergency Neighbor Contact List

Out-of-town emergency contacts listed in priority order (first person reached calls others on this list)

General Information

Are You Ready Guide FEMA Guide,

American Red Cross Preparedness Publications, last accessed 12.26.09

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