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Jan 25
inclusive emergency preparedness

Inclusive Emergency Preparedness

  • January 25, 2020

With the recent catastrophic bushfire emergency and heavy rainfall happening in parts of our country, we thought we’d take some time to compile some resources for dealing with an emergency as a member of the disabled community. We’ll call it Inclusive Emergency Preparedness, and it’s of vital importance for all of us.

The common media alerts are great for many of us, where there’s TV releases there’s often a signer and open captions displayed on screen for the hearing impaired, and for the visually impaired auditory options are plenty, but there are other ways to be informed, not to mention being prepared if you are directly affected by an emergency situation.

This advice shouldn’t be your only source of information (we’ve included some helpful links to assist further), but it’s designed to be a starting point from which to be ready in case of emergency…

Get Prepared

Start by considering the following actions:

  • Create a support network of people who will help you prepare for and cope with an emergency;
  • Consider how you may be affected in an emergency. This may include the accessibility of your mobility equipment in an emergency and what you might do if the person you’d usually depend on is not available;
  • Complete a personal assessment of your needs. This might include your dietary needs and eating utensils, mobility equipment, battery powered equipment requiring charge;
  • Create an emergency information and contact list. This might include your doctor’s name, your care worker / carer and a close friend or relative nearby;
  • Create a medical information list that would include;
    • Medical conditions you have;
    • Emergency contact details for your medical providers;
    • The names of medications you take, their dosages and other instructions;
    • When you take the medication;
    • The name and phone number of the doctor who prescribed it;
    • The type of health insurance you have and the provider;
    • Any adaptive equipment you use;
    • Any allergies you have;
    • Your blood type;
    • Any physical limitations you have; and
    • Any communication/cognitive difficulties you have.

Create and regularly review your evacuation plan;

  • Talk to your care worker, family and friends to develop a simple evacuation plan. Your plan should include information on how you will contact each other in case of an emergency. Don’t rely solely on a home telephone as this service may not be available.
  • Show the people who will help you how to operate and safely move any equipment that you use for your disability and practice with it.
  • If you have a guide dog, make sure it knows the people who will help you, as this will make it easier for the dog to accept instructions from them in an emergency.
  • Draw a floor plan of your home, marking up the primary escape route, secondary escape routes, the location of equipment and medications you need and a central meeting place outside your home e.g. letterbox.
  • Prepare a care plan for your guide dog or pets. Remember to take a collar, harness, identification tags, food and medical records.
  • Give a copy of your evacuation plan to the relevant people and keep a copy on your fridge.
  • Practice your evacuation plan with the relevant people.

AND

  • Create a list of your disability supplies and special equipment, including a description of what they look like and where they’re stored.

Now that you’re starting to get prepared for the event of an emergency – however unlikely in your situation – it’s worth taking stock of the resources available to you for alerts, updates and contacting emergency services if you so need to.

Generally speaking each state has their own emergency services to contact and as such each state also has different methods outside of the usual phone-based options. Let’s take a look at South Australia’s police options as an example:

We urge you from here to identify your local emergency services, their contact and alert options as well as the addresses of their nearest headquarters.

It’s also worth viewing the NDIS website with regards to their disaster response policies and processes: https://www.ndis.gov.au/understanding/ndis-and-other-government-services/ndis-and-disaster-response

Lastly, if you’re interested in the steps local governments are taking to ensure our voice is heard in the inclusive emergency preparedness conversation, take a look at the below website for some details and resources:

https://collaborating4inclusion.org/disability-inclusive-disaster-risk-reduction/

https://collaborating4inclusion.org/prepare-nsw/

Once again, please ensure you use this article as a starting point, not as your complete guide to an emergency – do your local research (or get help doing so), and if you are in immediate danger as always, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.

NDSP is a NDIS registered provider specialising in NDIS Plan Management. If you are a NDIS Participant looking for the right Plan Manager, CLICK HERE to get in touch with our friendly team today.

 

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