Emergency responseEmergency response for the disabled
Roughly 56 million Americans have a disability and with many living without a telephone or television, communicating with them in the event of a major disaster is no easy task; to address the needs of disabled Americans during natural and manmade disasters, emergency officials recently participated in a seminar called “Planning for the Whole Community”
Disasters are especially deadly to the disabled and elderly // Source: milli.az
Roughly 56 million Americans have a disability and with many living without a telephone or television, communicating with them in the event of a major disaster is no easy task.
To address the needs of disabled Americans during natural and manmade disasters, emergency officials recently participated in a seminar called “Planning for the Whole Community.”
At the seminar, officials discussed a “whole community” approach as emergency responders and government resources can quickly become overwhelmed in a disaster making volunteers, faith and community service organizations, and businesses absolutely critical to addressing the needs of individuals during a major crises.
In particular individuals with disabilities may require additional assistance or special equipment, especially in the event of an evacuation, so emergency responders need to be prepared ahead of time.
To that end, states and local emergency management agencies have worked to build databases of individuals with disabilities and what their special needs are so emergency response teams can act quickly and safely during an emergency.
Mary Goepfert, the external affairs officer and access and functional needs liaison for New Jersey’s Office of Emergency Management who spoke at the event, strongly urged all individuals with disabilities or their families to sign up for Register Ready, a voluntary web-based database that informs first responders about individuals and their particular disabilities.
“When the emergency event is happening, resources are scarce,” Goepfert said, making it all the more critical for first responders to plan ahead and prepare for disasters before they occur.
It is unrealistic for individuals to assume that government aid teams will be able to assist them given their limited resources and the large number of individuals in need of help. As part of the whole community approach, emergency officials are training thousands of CERTs (Community Emergency Response Teams).
According to LieutenantDwane Razzetti, the emergency response director in Bergen County, New Jersey CERTs logged more than 40,000 hours during Hurricane Irene, assisting in evacuations, shelters, and helping people with their pets.
The key point that Razzetti and Goepfert sought to make was that individuals need to be more resilient and less reliant on the government during a disaster, and more importantly, communities need to work together because no single entity or organization has enough resources to serve everyone.
