A Commitment to Planning Today Will Help You Prepare for Any Emergency Situation

Now is the time to plan ahead for what you may need to stay safe, healthy, informed, mobile and independent during a disaster—especially if you or someone close to you has a disability or other access or functional needs. Remember that in a disaster, you may be required to shelter at home or evacuate to an emergency shelter or other form of temporary housing.

A commitment to planning today will help you prepare for any emergency situation.

If you or someone close to you has a disability or other access or functional needs, you may have to take certain steps to protect yourself and your family.

Consider how a disaster might affect your individual needs.
Plan to make it on your own, at least for a period of time. It's possible that you will not have access to a medical facility or even a drugstore.
Identify what kind of resources you use on a daily basis and what you might do if they are limited or not available.
Build an emergency supplykit with your situation in mind. What do you need to maintain your health, safety and independence?

You will also need to determine whether any special assistance needs to be arranged. For example:

Those who are deaf or hard of hearing may need to make special arrangements to receive emergency warnings.
Single working parents and those with limited English proficiency may need help planning for disasters and emergencies. Community, faith-based and cultural groups may be able to help keep people informed.
People without vehicles may need to make arrangements for transportation.
People with special dietary needs should take precautions to have an adequate emergency food supply.

You should also find out about individual assistance that may be available in your community. Register in advance with the office of emergency services, the local fire department, other government agencies or nonprofit groups. Tell them of your individual needs or those of a family member and find out what assistance, help or services can be provided.

Staying Independent

As you prepare, consider all the strategies, services, devices, tools and techniques you or your family member uses to live with a disability on a daily basis. Keep in mind that you may need medications, durable medical equipment, consumable medical supplies, your service animal, assistive technology, communications tools, disability service providers, accessible housing, transportation and health-related items.

Create a support network to help you plan for an emergency. Consider family, neighbors, friends, people who provide services to you, and faith-based and community groups. Tell these people where you keep your emergency supplies. Give at least one member of your support network a key to your house or apartment.
Contact your city or county government's emergency information management office and work with them to use their emergency planning resources.
If you or your family member receives dialysis or other life-sustaining medical treatment, identify the location and availability of more than one facility and work with your provider to develop your personal emergency plan.
Show others how to operate your wheelchair or other assistive devices.
Keep contact information for local independent living centers and other disability services organizations in a safe and easy-to-access place. If you provide any organizations or service providers with information about your functional needs and what you may require in an emergency, keep that data up to date.
If you use in-home support services, MealsonWheels, Life Alert or other support services, work with them to personalize emergency preparedness plans to meet your needs so you can keep in touch with them during and after an emergency. That contact may be your lifeline to other services in a disaster.
Work with local transportation and disability services (e.g., Paratransit, Independent Living Centers) to plan ahead for accessible transportation if you may need it for evacuation or other reasons during a disaster.
Develop backup plans for personal assistance services, hospice or other forms of in-home assistance.

Keep in mind that during an emergency, you may need to explain to first responders and emergency officials that you need to evacuate and find shelter with your family, service animal, caregiver or personal assistance provider so they can provide the support you need to maintain your health, safety and independence.

Emergency Items

When building your emergency supply kit, make sure you have the following items:

Extra eyeglasses and/or hearing aids if you have them or have coverage for them
Battery chargers and extra batteries for hearing aids, motorized wheelchairs or other battery-operated medical or assistive technology devices
Copies of medical prescriptions, doctors’ orders and the style and serial numbers of the support devices you use
Medical alert tags or bracelets, or written descriptions of your disability and support needs, in case you are unable to describe the situation in an emergency
Supplies for your service animal
Medicare/Medicaid and other insurance cards, physician contact information, allergy list and health history
A list of the local nonprofit or community-based organizations that know you or assist people with access and functional needs similar to yours
A list of personal contacts, family and friends who you may need to contact in an emergency
A laminated personal communication board, if you might need assistance with being understood
If possible, extra medicine, oxygen, insulin, catheters or other medical supplies you use regularly

If you use a motorized wheelchair, have a lightweight manual chair available for emergencies. Know the size and weight of your wheelchair, in addition to whether or not it is collapsible, in case it has to be transported.

Even if you do not use a computer yourself, consider putting important information onto a portable thumb drive for easy transport in an evacuation.

In addition to standard recommended items to include in a basic emergency supply kit, people with disabilities and other access and functional needs may wish to consider adding additional items to accommodate their particular needs.

Community Preparation

Attend or volunteer with local emergency response groups, like FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), the Medical Reserve Corps, a Neighborhood Watch program, the American Red Cross or other organizations active in disaster assistance. Consider working with a local Citizen Corps Council on community emergency planning and supporting disaster education. Assist local emergency officials in learning how to integrate access and functional needs into preparedness and response activities and trainings.
Work with local shelter planners and emergency managers to plan ahead for accessible general population sheltering in a disaster. Medical shelters are for people with acute health care needs. Most people are best served in general population shelters along with family, friends and neighbors, so it is important to preplan now to meet all access and functional needs requirements in a general shelter.

Each person's needs and abilities are unique, but every individual can take these important steps to prepare for all kinds of emergencies and put plans in place. By evaluating your own personal needs and making an emergency plan, you can be better prepared for any situation.

In addition to insuring your home, we are committed to helping you and your loved ones stay safe when disaster strikes. If you would like more information on developing a family emergency plan or building a disaster supply kit, please contact Lutgert Insuranceat 239-262-7171 or today.