One would think that this was the script from a “B” movie in Hollywood, but states all over the country are debating the use of the New York protocols to determine what to do during an emergency and how to ration supplies that run low during a virus outbreak. However, public opinion has been strongly against any kind of rationing like this, and officials have worked hard to keep the public out of meetings that discuss these protocols. Our only safety net is that most states have not implemented this plan as law and most are worried what would happen to public opinion if they did put it into law. While officials are trying to state that this is for the national good and that work must be done to make sure medical care is available neglect to explain how this is going to occur. No one in any meetings to discuss the New York Protocols are willing to say that the will take ventilators and other lifesaving medical equipment from a person merely because they are disabled. We have not heard of something this sinister since the Nazi plan to rid the Reich of people that were “broken or not whole”. People that were forced to live in nursing homes because of disabilities were carted off to the same killing centers that the Jews were sent to. This law appears to allow the state to do the same type of thing under the veil of doctors and hospitals trying to give care to those that desperately need it.

People that live in states that frequently have disasters like Florida, Louisiana and California need to look carefully and see what their state officials are working on in this arena. If your state is looking to implement the New York Protocols you need to call everyone you know to put a stop to it. If this is allowed to become law then the governor of your state can decide at will that the disabled do not deserve to live and will be denied medical care that they may need to survive because others are felt to have a better chance to live. The control of life at this level is disgusting and it is sad that any doctors would be willing to put time and effort to make this a reality. No one should have the basic right to control who lives and who dies without having the family involved.

Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparedness

A training curriculum provided by the Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network (CEPIN) and developed by and for emergency responders and deaf and hard of hearing consumers

TOPICS COVERED:
- Understanding Hearing Loss: Communication modes and barriers
- Emergency Responder Roles: What do they do? What tools are needed?
- Emergency Preparedness: Responsibilities of consumers and responders
- Partnering for a Safer Community: How to become involved in community preparedness, response and recovery activities

The information presented in this training will benefit anyone involved with emergency planning, response and recovery efforts. The primary focus of the curriculum is direct interaction between emergency responders and people who are deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened or deaf-blind. The Train-the-Trainer course is intended to teach participants how to provide “Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparedness” to citizens in their community. Check out our website at www.cepintdi.org for registration forms and more information.

TRAINING DATES & LOCATIONS:

November 6
Salt Lake City, Utah

November 16 & 17
Austin, Texas

December 5
Burlington, Vermont

TBA
Florida

NOTE: ASL interpreters, assistive listening systems and realtime captioning will be provided. All other accommodations will be provided upon request.

CEPIN would like to thank Hamilton Relay for providing lunch and refreshments at all official trainings being provided this grant period.

SCRN worked for years with disaster recovery personnel in southeastern Florida in an effort to show what was needed during a hurricane. At first city and state officials refused to help the disabled community or even allow them into shelters. After considerable work from the Centers for Independent Living of South Florida and Marc Dubin, a disability lawyer from Key West, officials slowly changed their minds. The disabled are now allowed into public shelters and there are special beds for para and quadriplegic people that cannot sleep in a regular bed. However, even with documents from the Department of Justice showing how to transfer the disabled and communicate with them, some officials are refusing training. Broward county has a new emergency manager that has been in the job about a year and wants to fix the problems the disabled are running into with sheltering and after emergency help. The officers of SCRN moved from south Florida to Atlanta partially because it was not safe for wheelchair bound people in shelters.

Many governmental groups believe that the ADA does not apply to them or that some other local law “grandfathers” them into ignoring basic rights. That is not the case and we are working with Atlanta officials so they understand what is required of them and what they must do doing an emergency to help the disabled. This is not a matter of convenience, if police and fire officials do not help the disabled then people are going to die. We have stories from Hurricane Katrina of quadriplegics drowning in their wheelchairs because no one in emergency services could be bothered to go get them. In Florida most police and fire personnel will not help a disabled person get out of their home. Once the disabled person is outside the front door they will get help but not before. So if they cannot get into their wheelchair they may indeed be sentenced to death because emergency personnel just won’t help. We need enforcement of existing laws along with substantial penalties if local and state governments cannot get their act together. It is great that the Department of Justice has documents showing emergency personnel what their job is when dealing with the disabled, but they are not following that law. The Bush administration did nothing about this problem. Now that we are heading into the most dangerous part of hurricane season, what will the Obama administration do?

Things are just as screwed up during the emergency. The Red Cross all out REFUSES to help the disabled transfer from wheelchairs to beds. Good luck of you need help getting into the bathroom. There are many documented cases of people in wheelchairs defecating on themselves because no one will help them into the bathroom. Even though it is the law of the land to help the disabled through the ADA, and there is even documentation from the federal government on how to work with the disabled, the Red Cross says the law does not apply to them. This could be fixed by the states and counties that pay the Red Cross to help those after an emergency by forcing them to follow the law or stop using them. But that never happens. The counties and states do not want to police the groups that supposedly help the public after a hurricane so groups like the Red Cross get paid to do little more than hand out cold coffee and bags of ice.

Many people don’t hear about this because it is impossible to force groups like the Red Cross to do their jobs during the emergency. A hurricane is on it’s way and they refuse to let you on the bus. So you have to make a decision – scream at them to follow the ADA and be left behind, or let them get you out of there. But the transportation means your service dog is left behind along with your wheelchair. SInce the Red Cross doesn’t have the facilities to take care of the disabled, they send you off to a nursing home that does not have the staff to keep you safe. The disabled end up with bed sores which sends them off to hospitals for weeks on end to fix these problems. After getting out of the hospital you now have to fight with your insurance company to get a new wheelchair because your old one was left at the bus stop and was washed away during the storm. Then you get to take weeks searching for your service dog which hopefully was picked up by one of the animal control groups that hopefully has a no-kill policy. It is not unusual to spend two to three months searching animal shelters before you find your dog again.

For those that end up in a shelter, the deaf find it impossible to find out what is going on or what facilities are available to them. There are documented cases of the deaf starving in shelters because no one let them know that food was available and where to get it. They are not told up to the minute new stories so they don’t know the severity of a storm or when they can go home. There are no facilities for the deaf to make phone calls to their families to let them know they are safe. But the able bodied are allowed to make those same phone calls. Note that there are counties that have agreed to hire sign language translators so that the deaf have someone to converse with and tell them what is going on. But it isn’t everyone and money is not a reason to leave the deaf to starve in the dark. The ADA has guidelines that are republished by the federal government on what to do for the deaf community, but those documents are typically tossed aside and ignored.

As long as no one sues there is little reason to change how things are done. The newly disabled think that they can just go to a shelter and be handled as anyone else and get the help they need. It is giant surprise when they call and find out they are not welcome in the shelter and will be sent either home or to the hospital. Upon getting to the hospital, they find that most hospitals will not take the disabled because they cost too much. Nurses and doctors need to be present to help with bowel programs and to dispense medication like blood pressure and insulin to the disabled. That all costs money that the hospital doesn’t want to pay – even if the ADA says they must do this because even accessibility is guaranteed. So the disabled are then sent to special needs which typically won;t take anyone that is quadriplegic or has chronic pain because they don’t have medics, nurses, or doctors willing to transfer or give medication to those individuals. So  you get to go  home. the most dangerous place with no help because the nursing staff is home with their families. One hopes their houses don’t collapse during storms or tornadoes. Bottom line is the disabled are left to their own devices to stay alive while the able bodied are well taken care of by the governmental infrastructure. Our tax dollars hard at work.

The NICE (National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence) has made this recommendation to the UK which is looking for ways to keep up with spiraling medical costs. However, no pain specialists were on the NICE committee and pain specialists all over Britain are expressing outrage that major changes be made without any science to back it up. Making sweeping changes to the medical system merely to save money at the expense of patients is unacceptable. The UK has repeatedly been shown to the US as the best way to get medical coverage to everyone in the country at a price we all can afford. However, many are worried that b handing over medical decisions to bureaucrats is a dangerous decision that can put everyone at risk. Presently there is a major bill going through congress to make a system similar tot he UK, but still allow people to keep their existing policies if they wish. This sounds like a great idea, but who makes the ultimate decision on a procedure you need? Doctors? Senators? Judges? Doctors must be the ones that make the decision of what works best for a patient along with the patient’s wants and needs.

This change in how steroids are handled will create a whole new group of pain sufferers in the UK. These people have real pain problems that may keep them from working and paying the very taxes that are needed to keep the medical system running smoothly. But the government merely states they are going to save a bundle by cutting the number of procedures by half. What other procedures should be cut in half? Dialysis? Insulin injections? Heart attack medicine? Any group can be nailed with this so that tens of thousands are either put at great risk or die merely to balance a spreadsheet on someone’s computer. People are worth more than dollars or paper that is considered a law. In the end the UK government has to ask how many must suffer needlessly?

The major reason for a government to exist is to watch over it’s citizens and make sure they are safe from internal and external dangers. If patients are dying because a service is not available removes the very reason why that government exists. This isn’t a back woods country that has no doctors or facilities

Anytime that elevators are out is a scary time for the disabled. It is sad but not surprising that repair companies don’t care about a repair. These companies don’t seem to realize that they are trapping someone in their home until things are fixed. Until then they have to hope for people to bring them food and supplies. There is no reason for anyone to be held hostage in their home because a company doesn’t care what they are doing. We hope that the city can sue the elevator repair company to do their job and repair the elevator for good. This shows the able bodied that the disabled need help and without standard items like elevators, the disabled can be put into dangerous situations.

There must be laws in Canada that apartment dwellers can use to make the building owners fix their problems. This is a common problems in the US as well, but there is no reason to turn a building into a prison because the elevators are broken. The same goes for heat, air conditioning and any other item that is needed. Major US cities have laws in place to make building owners do the right thing, if this doesn’t exist in Canada then this is a good time for this woman to get on the phone to her parliament officials. Let them know what is going on and start working on a law to keep the disabled safe.

Today, Wednesday April 29, 2009 over 1000 people with disabilities and their advocates met on Capitol Hill. Their message will be loud, strong and clear that any health care reform must include reform of long term services and supports. How can you help us? Call your Congressional Representative and Senator’s Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss. Let them know that you support having long term services and supports included in any health care reform and that you support the Community Choice Act (H.R. 1670 and S 683) and the Class Act (S 697). The only member of the Georgia Delegation that has signed on to be a co-sponsor of either of these bills is Rep. John Lewis.

Call today, while those of us in Washington DC are on the Hill and urge your representatives to support this legislation and to make sure that long term services and supports is included in any health care reform efforts.
 

United States Senate  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
United States Senate State Legislature http://www.ncsl.org/public/leglinks.cfm

United States House of Representatives http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

1) Stock up on non perishable foods. Assume that if things get strange out there you may have to do things alone for about two weeks. Do this before your city/town announces that the Swine Flu is shutting down things like public transportation. Do not wait – as someone who has lived through many hurricanes, the public WILL PANIC and will strip the stores bare of everything, whether they need it or not. Do not expect anyone to do anything for you out of their good will. This is the fight/flight aspect of life and people will dump you on the floor if they think it will get them more food/water or a better place in line. Believe us, we have seen it happen.

2) Get anti-viral drugs before the rush. Ask your doctor for a prescription of Relenza or Tamiflu. Both dramatically reduce the symptoms of flu and the number of days you are sick. Have it in the house so if you do get sick, you do not have to hope the pharmacy’s have any left. Do not assume that the Government supply will make it to you. If it is needed by the able bodied somewhere else you will get hosed.

 3) Get surgical masks so you can be protected if you must go out in public  during an emergency. Get enough for at least two weeks and stash them away to be used later. Mexico is handing out masks to the public, but no one knows how good they are or for how long theyn can do this before they run out. This is good insurance to make sure your chance of getting sick is greatly reduced. Surgical 99% masks are a good kind to purchase. Read their instructions for use so that you are protected at all times.

4) If the flu hits your town/city cut down on seeing your friends and family unless absolutely required. The best way to keep from being infected is to reduce the number of people you see. Flu does not care about the status of a person, whether they are nice or go to a particular church. Anyone can be infected and they can infect people for days before symptoms appear. This means that someone may look fine, but could have the flu and can infect those around them. Presently the CDC and WHO do not know exactly how the flu is transmitted, but that it can easily be transmitted between humans. This is different to SARS which almost always required intimate contact with birds to be infected.

5) Don’t panic. Even if this becomes a pandemic, there is no reason to believe you will get it. That is especially true if you follow our simple ideas which minimize you interaction with anyone who may be infected. Keep your head so you will be prepared in an emergency situation. Those that are prepared and know what to do will be the ones that will be in good shape after everything blows by.

As Greg recuperated in the hospital, the couple began to plan for the accommodations he would need upon returning home. The Georges also started questioning staff about how they could best prepare for hurricane season, which was just a couple months away. “And they kept saying, ‘We don’t know’,” Laura recalls.

On the day Greg was discharged, Laura brought up the subject again. Staff told her that no one had asked that question before and that they could not give her an answer. Laura was in disbelief. “It shouldn’t be that way,” she told them. “This is Florida.”

Since they moved to Florida in 1992, the Georges have practiced emergency preparedness and kept critical supplies, from bottled water to flashlights, on hand. “We moved out from Michigan to Florida two months before [Hurricane] Andrew hit, so we’ve been around here long enough to know hurricanes are rather important,” Laura says.

A Horrible Choice

In August 2006, the Georges began bracing themselves for the approach of Hurricane Ernesto. At the time, Laura was nine months pregnant with their daughter Charlotte and was told to seek shelter at a local hospital in case of emergency.

“Women who are nine months pregnant, the doctors tell them to go to the hospital” when a hurricane approaches, Greg says. “Because of the drop in the air pressure, they could go immediately into labor.”

The Georges then contacted a nearby hospital to explain their situation and discuss the sheltering procedure before the storm hit. “The hospital was willing to take Laura in, but they wouldn’t accept me,” Greg says. “They said, ‘You’re in a wheelchair; you’re a spinal cord patient. We don’t have any way to take care of you and we are not going to set anything aside for you.’”

Greg was then advised by hospital staff to seek shelter elsewhere. But because Greg relies on Laura for personal care assistance, he told them that was not an option.

“Laura had to make a decision. She could either stay there in hopes of not going into labor to protect Charlotte or go with me so I could get my medical needs met. Or I could go into what is called autonomic dysreflexia,” Greg says, referring to a secondary condition of spinal cord injury in which the body’s autonomic nervous system is triggered to go into high gear before the individual is aware of it, ” which could end up killing me.”

As the storm headed their way, the Georges found themselves in the middle of the very predicament they had hoped to have a solution for months earlier. “By the way, home health aids don’t come out during a hurricane; they stay home. So I, literally, had to chose-do I go to the hospital or do I stay home with my husband?”

Laura ultimately decided to remain at home by Greg’s side. In the end, “the hurricane was a non-issue,” he said. “After that, we started poking around trying to find out where Laura and I would go during a hurricane.”

By summer’s end, Laura and Greg had made countless calls to doctors, hospitals, special needs organizations, and the American Red Cross and still had no answers.

Nowhere to Run

Following the birth of Charlotte George that September, Laura and Greg continued their search to find a shelter that could accommodate them in the future. After researching shelters throughout Florida, they were still unable to find any that could meet Greg’s needs. “We were literally a family with no place to go” in an emergency, Laura says.

Although Broward County, where the couple resides, does have five shelters designated for individuals with special needs, these facilities were not accepting people with advanced disabilities at that time.

According to Laura, the special needs shelters would not allow entry to individuals who use wheelchairs and required assistance with transferring or those who needed electrical power or air-conditioning 24-hours a day. In addition, the special needs shelter would not allow entrance to those-among others-who were incontinent and not accompanied by a caregiver.

Attempting to shelter-in-place is not an option for the Georges either since the power could go out. “Greg cannot sweat because of the nerve damage. I am not a nurse, so we are kind of required to go take shelter somewhere because if something happens to him, I have no way to help him,” Laura says.

In October, Laura contacted an official from Parkland, a nearby city, to see which shelter she would recommend. The woman’s response confirmed what the Georges already suspected: “You know, there is no shelter in Florida that takes the spinal cord injured during a hurricane.”

Time for a Change

Disheartened and disturbed by their findings, the Georges began contacting numerous politicians and special needs organizations to let them know of the situation. “In October, we started contacting everybody because I said, ‘This is wrong.’ It is scary because now I have to realize I am the key person in the family who is looking out for everyone,” Laura says.

The Georges also started attending meetings hosted by local Emergency Operations Centers and began advocating for improved accessibility and access to disaster shelters for those with all types of disabilities. “We have heard time and time again, ‘We don’t have to do that; we are not required to do that. People with disabilities are too expensive to accommodate,’” Laura says.

However, the Georges have found an ally in Chip Wilson, who was hired as Florida’s Statewide Disability Coordinator for the Division of Emergency Management in November of 2007. Wilson, a paraplegic since 1968, has a personal stake in seeing emergency shelters become more accommodating towards people with disabilities.

“I was not qualified for a special needs shelter because I am independent. I do all my routines myself; I transfer and all that kind of stuff,” Wilson says, adding, “There were some general population shelters here in Florida in recent history that I would not have been allowed in because I use a wheelchair. And, in those shelters, the sleeping arrangements….I would never have been able to sleep in anything but my chair because all they had was to sleep on the fl oor. That’s not providing accessibility based on the requirements of the ADA. I need to have the same abilities to sleep as my next door neighbor who does not have a disability.”

According to Wilson, Florida was the first state to create the emergency management position he holds. After he was hired, Wilson joined the Georges on their mission.

“My office, the Department of Health, the Red Cross, the county Emergency Operations Centers, and anybody else that we can get involved are working on making sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Work in Progress

While the situation is not entirely remedied yet, Wilson says that today, “There would be a much better opportunity for someone like Greg to be sheltered in a special needs shelter or a host hospital setting.”

Officials have been examining policies put forth by the American Red Cross and other shelter managers. “We are also working with the special needs shelters so they understand what’s required of them. In the past there’s been so much misinformation going around,” Wilson says of ADA and Florida accessibility codes.

Shelter managers need to understand if they are breaking the law or not meeting ADA standards “that they have an obligation to correct it,” he added.

Those with advanced special needs, like spinal cord injuries, should be able to seek refuge at any of the state’s special needs shelters-although work is still being done to ensure that can happen, Wilson said.

“A special needs shelter is where basically…they have the higher medical need people that come in-somebody that might have a dependency for electricity for a respirator, for insulin for diabetes, or even if they have quadriplegia and they don’t have good body temperature control so they would have a dependency on electricity for air conditioning,” Wilson explained.

At these shelters, individuals can also expect, “transfer assistance from the wheelchair to the bed and back, from the wheelchair to the toilets and back and also assistance as far as going through their bowel and urinary routines. That type of assistance is included in general population shelters as well. And that’s not understood well by most of the general population shelters. At least it hasn’t been, but more are understanding it as we go along and we explain to them the rules and what the laws require.”

Wilson has also been working to make general population shelters more accommodating by requiring a certain number of higher cots on site to allow for easy transfer. He also wants to set regulations so that interpreters and service animals are not turned away.

Presently, Wilson is looking at organizing an advisory panel to address emergency preparedness issues facing the special needs population in Florida. “Most of the counties have their own special needs sheltering groups. I would like to pull from each one of those and have a statewide advisory panel and have consistent information. There are some counties that are not as accommodating and most of that is a lack of education on what their requirements are.”

Emergency Preparedness Tips

As a result of their struggles with the Florida shelter system, the Georges founded a company called Spinal Cord Resources Network in an effort to put people with SCIs and their caregivers in touch with resources they may need. As part of their mission, the Georges give presentations on emergency preparedness. “We give people a whole lot of questions to think about during the season and in any disaster for that matter,” Laura says.

Here are just a few things Laura suggests people with disabilities look into:

• Have you thought about your medical supplies, both in terms of medicine, in terms of everyday supplies you have, and in terms of stockpile?

 

• If you cannot take shelter in your home, where can you go? Do not assume because a shelter is there, they are going to take you. The Georges know many cases of people being refused shelter.

• If the shelter can take you, can they accommodate you? If you are by yourself and you have no caregiver, are they going to take you? By law, you are not required to have a caregiver to go into a shelter. “But a lot of places demand it and we are trying to educate everybody,” Laura says.

• What happens if you go to someone else’s home and it is damaged? If you’re in an electric wheelchair, how will you get out? Where will you go? How are you going to get your medical needs met? Sheltering in a home is ideal, but whatever disaster plan you have, you must have a backup plan in place.

• As far as what you should put in an emergency kit, for people with disabilities, food, money, clothing, things for entertainment, that’s obvious. What’s not obvious are things like a bike kit if you’re in a manual wheelchair and the tire blows. “What’s not obvious is, how many catheter kits do you use in a week?” Laura says.

• Make sure your prescriptions are with a major national chain. “Let’s say you get displaced out into another state, how are you going to access your medications?” Laura says, adding, “Let’s say you get SSDI. It better be direct deposit.”

• Does the shelter have a cot you can transfer to, like a Westcot, which also has waffl ing. “For people who are paralyzed, this helps prevent wounds.”

• Are there people on-hand to help transfer you to a bed, toilet, or shower or to help you catheterize? Do you have a service animal? Is there someone to help you take care of it?”

• Does the city provide transportation? And if you’re a quadriplegic, will they come into your home and help you get in an accessible vehicle? In addition to Laura’s advice, Wilson recommends putting labels or tags on any assistive devices you might have in case it gets borrowed or lost. And while Wilson says he is dedicated to advocating for the rights of people with disabilities through his position, he also wants these individuals to understand their responsibilities. “I’m a big proponent of that because I think personal responsibility is much more important than waiting on the government to do something for you.”

For more information or emergency preparedness tips, visit www.spinalcordresources.com.

In fact, according to Lex Frieden, director of Independent Living Research Utilization, approximately 50 percent of the thousands of people who died as a result of Hurricane Katrina were either elderly or disabled. So when Laura George asked me to write an article on any topic related to emergency preparedness and special needs for the Spinal Cord Resources Network, I quickly agreed. While I’ve written a number of pieces on this subject, this opened ended assignment allowed me the opportunity to take a different approach to the issue of preparedness. I decided I would randomly poll my friends with disabilities, which range from mobility to vision to hearing impairments, to see just how prepared they actually are should a disaster strike.

It’s been exactly one week since I sent out an e-mail asking my friends if they have an emergency plan in place at home and/or at work. While only about half of them have responded, I’ve found some of their responses to be enlightening. For starters, more of them had a plan in place than I expected—at least at work, that is. In fact, one of my friends said she and her coworkers conduct drills three times a year to make sure everyone knows how to carryout their plan.

One gentleman, who uses a wheelchair, wrote that his office is very close to the entrance of the building, but his agency still has a basic plan in place. As part of this plan, he must always let someone know where he will be in the office and when he is leaving. In addition, they have a set meeting point outside when evacuation is necessary. Emergency supplies, like flashlights and first aid kits, are also kept in the office.

It was also encouraging to see that the youngest of the responders—a high school teenager with physical limitations—had a plan in place at home. Even more encouraging is that her plan is multifaceted to account for various types of disasters. For example, should a tornado come their way, her family has a designated meeting spot in the basement. They even have it in their plan to arrive at this point with their shoes and jackets on—if possible. However, she admits that her family’s plan does need work in some areas, although that’s partially because they just recently moved to a new neighborhood.

This brings up a good point—getting a proper plan in place doesn’t usually happen over night and often requires amendments as time goes on. Janet Shaw, of New Jersey, realizes that developing a suitable plan not only takes time and careful consideration, but that it can also cost a bit of money to acquire emergency supplies as necessary.

“We (follow) a great emergency management plan that tells you what to buy each week for 24 weeks so it is not so overwhelming. It’s called the Family Disaster Supplies Calendar, which is intended to help you prepare for disasters before they happen. Using the calendar, we can assemble an emergency kit in the small steps over a six-month period,” said Shaw, whose husband is recovering from a spinal cord injury.  

While a respectable number of my friends have plans in place (or are at least beginning to develop one), several of them do not have any plan for home or work and realize it’s something they need to address. For these individuals, Shaw suggests following the tips on the calendar she has, which is available free of charge through Mayes County Emergency Management (1-877-263-0280).

FEMA officials also released the following emergency tips to help seniors and people with disabilities prepare for disaster (www.fema.gov):

• Make prior arrangements with your physician or check with your oxygen supplier about emergency plans for those on respirators or other electric-powered medical equipment. Be sure to have electrical backup for any medical equipment.
• Maintain a two-week supply of medications, both prescription and non-prescription.
• Have copies of your medical records readily available.
• Have copies of prescriptions for medical equipment, supplies, and medications on-hand and readily available.
• Keep extra contact lenses and supplies, extra eyeglasses, and extra batteries for hearing aids on-hand.
• Make plans now to have accessible transportation in case of evacuation.
• Shelters may be limited in accommodations to meet some of the needs of those with disabilities. Prepare ahead of time to ensure that you will have what you need.
• Include your service animals and pets in your plans.

“Who best to plan but us? We know our own strengths and weaknesses; our own resources and networks. We have an obligation to ourselves and our families to be active participants in our own safety and not assume the role of ‘passive victim,’ especially when we would never dream of doing that in any other aspect of our lives,” says Elizabeth Davis, founder and managing director of EAD & Associates, LLC, an emergency management firm that focuses on populations with special needs.

And while Davis believes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, it’s still important to plan for the worst case scenario should something happen to you. 

“I have all the legal paperwork for a medical power of attorney, and it is on file in my home, with the power of attorney, and at the local hospital as well as at the VA hospital,” said Buddy Hayes, who has multiple sclerosis and resides in New Mexico. “There are directions as to what needs to be done and when—like bills that need to be, who is to care for my service animal, etc.”

Hayes said she also specified what she wants done should she pass away. “It is all written down so no one has to wonder what Buddy would want—it is right there,” she said. “I would never want to put that burden on someone if they didn’t know what I wanted.”

For more information on life-saving emergency preparedness, visit www.eadassociates.com.