“Disaster Lights” & “Disaster Heavies:” Relevant Emergency Preparedness Information for People with Disabilities

1. “Disaster Lights” & “Disaster Heavies:” Relevant Emergency Preparedness Information for People with Disabilities [ILRU Webcast 2 Parts], 11/9,16/2007

2. www.jik.com jik@pacbell.net 310.821.7080,Fax:310.827.0269

3. June Isaacson Kailes Associate Director jik@pacbell.net 310.821.7080

4. www.cdihp.org Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, California Established 1998

5. CDIHP works to enhance health of people with disabilities through: • public policy, • consulting, • training, • research & • dissemination activities.

6. Outcome • Doing a little is much better than doing nothing! • Take small steps that move you toward better preparedness.

7. All Hazard Planning

8. Hazards • Scale: large & small • Frequency: high & low • Risks: high & low

9. Name some hazards: • Low Risk – High Frequency? • Low Risk – Low Frequency? • High Risk – Low Frequency? • High Risk – High Frequency?

10. “Planners cannot foresee every outcome, & incident managers cannot anticipate every scenario. While disasters have a language of their own & no plan guarantees success, inadequate plans are proven contributors to failure.”

11. Lessons documented: Words are easy to write, Steps are easy to list, the doing, making it real, & sustaining it, is hard! The devil is in the detail!

12. Cover • Making it real - “about & for us” vs. “with & by us!” • Preparing - Why bother? • Evaluating your skills • Support teams • Communication & Public Warning • Plans • Those dreaded drills • Supplies & kits

13. Intended Outcomes • Cultivate thinking regarding what you can do that is different from what you have been doing.

14. Intended Outcomes • Recognize that emergency preparedness: • Is a life style choice, not a time limited project. • literacy & competencies need to be developed, practiced & woven into your culture, policies, procedures, & advocacy.

15. Your task today • Make a specific priority list. • What will you do in: • 1 month? • 2 months? • 6 months? • Ongoing ?

16. Objectives Making Lessons Documented Real!

17. People with disabilities & activity limitations need relevant information

18. Some disability specific materials are: • Vague • Incomplete • Impractical • Naïve & • Language used is: • outdated • condescending • offensive • perpetuates negative attitudes & false stereotypes

19. Preparedness materials for PWDAL • Sometimes need to be augmented: • Some advice for general population is not always equally applicable.

20. Get Specific!

21. Wheelchair users are instructed to: “Show friends how to operate your wheelchair so they can move you if necessary. Make sure your friends know the size of your wheelchair in case it has to be transported.” FEMA’s Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities, 2003 Vague and incomplete!

22. Get Real!

23. If you are confined to a wheelchair, consider mounting a small “personal use” fire extinguisher in an accessible place on your wheelchair & become familiar with its use. • Then, if you cannot “stop, drop, & roll” during a fire, you should “pull, aim, squeeze, & sweep.” (Fire Risk Series published by the FEMA & US Fire Administration 1999)

24. Get Current!

25. Information must be easily available, through same means as other material is distributed • with specific & useful advice in accessible & usable formats & • language.

26. Usable formats…. braille large print text (disk) audio appropriate for Non‑English speakers & people who have difficulty reading.

27. Develop emergency preparedness materials that integrates information re: PWDAL into general preparedness materials as well as inform readers how to access more customized materials.

28. Compile & distribute, & when not available, create customized preparedness materials that: • have specific content, useful & relevant to people with limitations in hearing, vision, mobility, speech, & cognition.

29. Materials need: • Specificity & detail • Disability diversity perspective • Written from disability experience • Not about what people can do for us, but what we can do for ourselves! • Easy to get • Usable - alternative formats

30. Use general & customized disability specific planning materials

31. Contact Your Local Emergency Information Management Office:Some local emergency management offices maintain registers of people with disabilities so you can be located & assisted quickly in a disaster.

32. Consider getting a medical alert system that will allow you to call for help if you are immobilized in an emergency. Most alert systems require a working phone line, so have a back-up plan, such as a cell phone or pager, if the regular landlines are disrupted .

33. If you have an audio perceptual disability, work particularly hard to understand the environment. Watch body language so you will know when it’s a good time to ask a question of a shelter staff member or other occupant.”[9]

34. 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.

35. “If you do not own a vehicle or drive, find out in advance what your community’s plans for evacuating those without private transportation.” “Let your personal care attendant know you have registered, and with whom. If you are electric-dependent, be sure to register with your local utility company.”

36. Visit websites below for additional information: • www.access-board.gov • Access Board • www.aoa.dhhs.gov • DHHS Administration on Aging • www.ncd.gov • National Council on Disability • www.afb.org • American Foundation for the Blind • www.nad.org • National Association of the Deaf • www.easter-seals.org • Easter Seals

37. So speak up!We need relevant information

38. Why Prepare • Increase confidence • Know what to do • Be calm • Stay in charge • Protect your self

39. 4 Stages of Disaster Denial • It won’t happen here. • Even if it happens here, it won’t happen to me. • Even if it happens to me, it won’t be that bad. • Even if it’s that bad, there’s nothing I could have done about it anyway. Eric Holdeman, Director of Emergency Management, Seattle's King County

40. Lessons documented: Words are easy to write, Steps are easy to list, the doing, making it real, & sustaining it, is hard! The devil is in the detail!

41. 91% of Americans live in places at moderate-to-high risk of: • earthquakes, • volcanoes, • tornadoes, • wildfires, • hurricanes, • flooding, • high-wind damage or • terrorism.

42. Fact: Like it or not you will be involved -- plan now or suffer & muddle through later!

43. Most important message! Avoid Avoidance

44. How many of you have at least one family member with disability? Ability Self-assessment

45. Learn What You Can And Can Not Do Self Test

46. Establish Support Teams

47. Rethink and UpdateBuddy SystemsTraining one person to assist in an emergency! What’s wrong with the buddy system

48. Rethink & Update Buddy SystemsTraining one person to assist in an emergency Major weaknesses: PERSON & LOCATION DEPENDENT! • Person may be absent • You may be in area different from usual location • You may be at site after regular hours when buddy not available

49. Trash the Buddy System!

50. Support Teams • people who will help you in an emergency as needed. • should be people who are regularly in same area as you.