The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Disability Rights
Section posted an Americans with Disabilities Act Guide for Local Governments,
“Making Local Emergency Preparedness Response Programs Accessible to People
with Disabilities” at www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/cguide.htm.
ADA requires local plans and response are accessible to people with
disabilities.
Local governments might want to consider:
Initial
Planning:
seek comments from disabled citizens (mobility, vision, hearing and other types
of disabilities) on the local emergency response plan. Of particular interest is
input in the areas of disaster notification, response, sheltering, clean up, and
returning home.
Notification: Warning systems should be developed to ensure all
citizens have the information necessary to make informed decisions. Aside from
sirens and tone alert radios, local governments might consider using telephone
calls, auto-dialed TTY (teletypewriter) message, text messaging, e-mails and
even door-to-door contact with registered citizens. Local television stations
might be asked to offer open captioning, and utilize qualified sign language
interpreters.
Evacuation and Sheltering: Procedures should be in place to ensure
that people with disabilities can evacuate the physical area with or without
assistance. During the 1993 floods, St. Louis Police Sgt Vince Stehlin (now
retired) conducted a citywide survey to identify elderly and people with
disabilities to find out about their medications and how to contact their
relatives in the event of an evacuation. During the 1995 Spring Conference, St.
Louis City Commissioner for the Disabled Dr. Deborah Dee made the following
observations to help EMDs with planning considerations involving the elderly and
disabled: 1) identify specific shelters that can accommodate wheel chair
accessibility, larger restrooms and accommodations for service animals; 2)
encourage local television stations to use closed captioned instructions for
hearing impaired viewers; 3) prepare and distribute educational materials in
large type or Braille for vision impaired; 4) offer special training for
volunteers assisting with elderly or disabled citizens; and 5) issue photo
identification for first responders and volunteers.
Other considerations might include: a memorandum of agreement with school
districts to use lift-equipped school buses to help evacuate persons with
mobility impairments. As more
people experience shortened hospital stays and recuperate at home, EMDs working
with Public Health officials might want to identify a specific shelter that
could accommodate those needs. This shelter may have the ability to keep
medications refrigerated, power to run life-saving equipment such at oxygen,
dialysis or other monitoring equipment. Depending on the types of disabilities
at the shelter, volunteers may need to either read or post written announcements
for vision or hearing impaired citizens.
Returning Home may pose problems for elderly or disabled if home
access ramps or electrical systems have been destroyed.
Work with your local chapter of the American Red Cross to maintain a list
of hotels, which are handicap accessible and/or have TTY capabilities for your
disabled citizens.