D.U.D. (Disability- The Unseen Disaster) comprises of the following:
Disability intersects every demographic group—there are people with disabilities of all ages, races, genders or national origin. And, disabilities can impact a person in a variety of ways—both visible and invisible. For people with disabilities and their families, it is important to consider individual circumstances and needs to effectively prepare for emergencies and disasters. We call it an unseen disaster due to the fact that there’s so much that goes with it which is beyond what can actually be seen, or understood. One can feel it only if they’ve actually gone thru all that.
Who Are “People with Disabilities”?
The term “people with disabilities” covers a broad spectrum of human experience and individual circumstances. So many different types, levels and combinations of physical, cognitive, sensory and mental conditions fall under the general umbrella of “disability” that the term, by itself, gives little useful information about the specific needs of any particular individual to whom it is applied.
It is important that emergency services personnel, relief workers, incident managers and government leaders cultivate an understanding of the diverse identities and needs of people with disabilities. No single strategy for outreach, planning, communication, evacuation, or shelter will work for everyone. Planners, trainers, and responders must be mindful of the wide variety of needs and issues for people with disabilities.
The key concerns have been organized into the following chapters:
1. Outreach: Identification and Education
2. Planning with the Disability Community
3. Communication Strategies
4. Evacuation
5. Shelter
Key Questions for Planners are:
1. How will you reach out to people with a variety of disabilities in your community? Including people with disabilities starts by developing effective outreach strategies. Individuals, families and provider agencies need to be identified, educated and encouraged to prepare their own plans. Municipal and regional planners need to listen to people explain their needs, network with disability groups, and develop relevant preparedness plans. Both the disability world and the emergency preparedness world need to learn each other’s language. To encourage collaboration and competent emergency responses, planners must make conscious efforts to communicate in formats that are accessible to people with a variety of communication styles and needs, and to hold meetings in accessible locations.
2. How will you ensure that people with disabilities have a voice in community preparedness planning? The best way to ensure that community preparedness plans are relevant for people with disabilities and their families is to involve them in planning, drills, training, site visits and feedback. Inviting participation can mean anything from encouraging people with disabilities to volunteer for Red Cross training to including disability groups in discussions about expansion of reverse 9-1-1 systems. People with disabilities, family members, advocacy groups and provider organizations can also help evaluate the accessibility of facilities, vehicles, and communications. The motto adopted by disability rights activists is especially important to emergency preparedness: “Nothing about us without us.”
3. What do you need to know in order to meet the needs of people with disabilities during an emergency? Experience teaches that while planning is critically important, it is only part of the equation. Situational realities often demand flexibility and accommodation beyond what is envisioned in even the best emergency plans. This means that leaders and responders must be trained and well informed about a variety of disability issues, and that networks with disability groups must be established (and working) prior to an actual emergency. One of the benefits of energetic outreach and networking efforts will be positive working relationships with disability groups that can lend expertise in training responders, and help meet unexpected resource needs during an emergency.
4. How will you evacuate everyone? Planners need to anticipate logistics and communications needs for both evacuation and “shelter in place” scenarios. Detailed, redundant communication strategies are critically important, especially to people who have communications disabilities (e.g. people who are deaf and hard of hearing, people with certain cognitive disabilities), and to people who live independently with assistance. Similarly, transportation planning needs to anticipate and accommodate the needs of people who depend on assistive devices for mobility and communications, service animals, or the help of family members, friends, or directly-employed aides.
5. In an emergency, is there a place for everyone? To the maximum extent possible, shelter and support plans should include people with disabilities along with others in their community. In most cases, accommodating people with disabilities requires relatively small, simple modifications to policies and physical environments: providing a portable ramp, ensuring that announcements are affirmatively communicated to deaf and hard of hearing people; allowing aides and family members to evacuate and shelter along with a person. People with disabilities should not be routinely routed to health care environments or separated from essential equipment and other personal supports (e.g. service animals, friends, aides, family). Doing either greatly increases vulnerability and trauma, and may condemn a person to a lengthy, unnecessary period of institutionalization.
In the event of a disaster could you make it on your own for several days? After a disaster you may not have access to a medical facility or even a drugstore. It’s crucial to plan for your daily needs and know what you would do if they become limited or unavailable. Additional planning steps include:
In addition to having your basic survival supplies, an emergency kit should have items to meet your individual needs in various emergencies. Consider the items you use every day and which ones you may need to add to your kit.
Safe, effective evacuation by people with all types of disabilities should be a central objective of all plans. Issues such as transportation, personal assistance, service animals, and supplies and equipment are important to many people with various disabilities. Other evacuation concerns may be more specific to different disability types. Remember to consider the multiple formats for accessible communications when preparing evacuation communications. Evacuation personnel need to look for and assist people who need assistance reading signs, hearing instructions, and filling out forms.
Responders must be trained on the importance of allowing individuals with disabilities to bring personal care assistants or family members, service animals and mobility, communications and medical devices with them. Provisions should be made to assure safe transport of mobility, communications and other assistive equipment. Policies need to reflect an understanding that these supports are not optional.
The rule should be that if a person says it is important for them to bring particular people, animals or equipment with them, they should be allowed to do so unless granting the request would likely result in imminent harm to the person or others.
A disaster can disrupt mail service for days or weeks. If you depend on Social Security or other regular benefits, switching to electronic payments is an easy way to protect yourself financially before disaster strikes. It also eliminates the risk of stolen checks. The U.S. Department of the Treasury recommends two safer ways to get federal benefits:
