SPECIAL NEEDS COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PLANNING

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SPECIAL NEEDS COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PLANNING

• Gail Dreckman
• Lead Emergency Management Specialist
• Bonneville Power Administration

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Citizens with Special Needs are encouraged to

• Create a support network to help in an emergency
• Give one member of the support network a key to
  your home
• Wear medical alert tags or bracelets to help
  identify their disability

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• Know the location and availability of more than
  one dialysis or other life sustaining facility
• Prepare a list of medications to include dosages,
  allergies, special equipment, doctors,
  pharmacists and family members

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Mobility Restrictions

• Identify which exit routes from a building are
  best
• Show others how to operate their wheelchair
• Know the size and weight of their wheelchair, in
  addition to whether or not it is collapsible

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Additional Disaster Supplies

• Current, non-expired medicines, list of
  medications, dosages, and list of any allergies
• Extra eyeglasses and hearing-aid batteries
• Extra wheelchair batteries and charger oxygen
• List of the style and serial number of medical
  devices

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Additional Disaster Supplies cont.

• Medical insurance and Medicare cards
• List of doctors, relatives or friends who should
  be notified if they are hurt
• Water, blankets, garbage bags and sanitary
  supplies

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BPAs Special Needs Employees

• Permanent and temporary special needs
• Strobe alarms
• Hearing-impaired pagers
• Buddy system encouraged
• Evac chairs

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University of OregonSpecial Needs Assessment

• Document that provides a framework/template for
  conducting an assessment in their community
• Understanding risks
• Opportunities to best serve

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What is a Special Needs Assessment

• Identifies populations within a community that
  have special needs
• An understanding of the risks faced by special
  needs populations
• Designs and direct emergency management and
  communications strategies

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4 Phases of Assessment

1. Scale
2. Defining Special Needs
3. Natural Disasters
4. Conducting the Assessment

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ADA Definition of Disability

• a physical or mental impairment that
  substantially limits one or more of the
  individuals major life activities, such as
  caring for ones self, performing manual tasks,
  walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing,
  learning and working.

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Outcomes from an Assessment

• Creates an inventory of all local social service
  agencies and community service organizations that
  serve special needs citizens
• Establishes a Special Needs Committee
• Develops contingency plans for different disaster
  types for special needs

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Emergency Management Institute definition of
Special Needs

• individuals in the community with physical,
  mental, or medical care needs who may require
  assistance before, during, and/or after a
  disaster or emergency after exhausting their
  usual resources and support network

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FEMA/EMI

• IS-197.SP Special Needs Planning Considerations
  for Service and Support Providers
• Objectives
• Describe the impact of different types of hazards
  on special needs populations
• Describe challenges during the different phases
  of an emergency
• Explain how to develop emergency plans and work
  with emergency management and other local
  officials during the planning process for your
  local community

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Office of Consolidated Emergency
ManagementSpecial Needs Population Project

• To identify, locate and map special populations
• Identify existing response groups
• Addressing issue of extended isolation
• Database and mapping tool to be used in EOC

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• People with Special needs can be found
• In their own residences
• Adult day-care facilities
• Assisted living facilities
• Foster or group homes
• Long term facilities

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Vulnerable Populations Emergency Planning Project

• To identify and address needs of vulnerable
  populations in Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah and
  Washington Counties
• Goal is to write a regional Vulnerable
  Populations Emergency Preparedness and Response
  Plan by May 2009

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Cultures Uniting for Emergency Preparedness (CUEP)

• Multnomah County effort to address comms needs
  for vulnerable language populations
• Main focus was to establish metro area emergency
  comms guidelines for the significant pockets of
  non-English speaking populations
• Exists today and is part of the newly formed
  Multnomah County Community Organizations Active
  in Disaster (M-COAD)

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Citizen Corps Working Group

• Portland Urban Area Community-based Outreach Plan
• Identify community-based organizations that
  currently provide services and who have not
  typically been reached through county
• Formally integrate community-based organizations
  and county emergency management efforts into one
  Plan
• Completion of Plan expected Summer 09

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Express Home Help

• Trains and hires professionals in the field of
  home care assistance for seniors and people with
  disabilities
• Christian Fossdall
• Express Home Help
• 503-612-2005

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QUESTIONS?