Preparedness for Persons with Mobility Impairments

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Preparedness for Persons
with
Mobility Impairments

• By Catherine Rooney, Michael H. Fox,
• Glen W. White, and Jennifer Rowland
• Considerations in Emergency
• Preparedness A Two Track Conference
• Mailman School of Public Health
• Columbia University
• Washington, D.C.
• December 13-15, 2005

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Intro I have Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and
use a wheelchair.  We had a bomb threat at work
Everyone evacuated, but I was still left on the
3rd floor by the stairwell for the firefighters
to come get me. But no one came. Finally, I just
struggled and I used pure fear to get myself down
the stairs (From Nobody Left Behind On-line
Consumer Survey, 2004).
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• Disaster Preparedness for Persons with
  Mobility Impairments
• October, 2002 - September 2005
• www.nobodyleftbehind2.org

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CDC grant awarded to KU, RTC/IL, TS 08040,
Principle Investigators Dr. Glen White and Dr.
Michael Fox.

• Objectives To determine if emergency
• preparedness and response systems
• Meet the needs of persons with mobility
  impairments
• Use surveillance systems to identify persons with
  mobility impairments
• Have elements of emerging best practices.

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Methods

• Identify Federal Emergency Management Agency
  (FEMA) declared disasters between 1998 2003.
• Select a random sample of 30 counties or
  equivalent units (boroughs, parishes, cities)
  across each of the 10 federal regions.
• Interview the county emergency managers.

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Methods (Cont.)

• Evaluate disaster plans and any programs for
  persons with mobility impairments.
• Identify possible best practices.
• Administer on-line consumer survey.
• Consult with project advisors to recommend
  changes.

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Nature of the Problem

• Lack of empirical data on the safe, efficient
  evacuation of people with disabilities, including
  mobility impairments.

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Research on Disasters and Persons with Mobility
Impairments

• Few empirical research studies were found.
• Two studies identified correlation between
  disabilities and risk of death from earthquakes
  (Chou, Y., Huang, N., Lee, C., 2004 Osaki, Y.
  Minowa, M., 2001).

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New Findings from Katrina

• Survey of evacuees in Houston
• shelters found
• 61 did not evacuate before the storm.
• 38 were either physically unable to leave or
  caring for someone who was physically unable to
  leave (Kaiser, Harvard, Washington Post).

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Nature of the Problem

• Current evacuation systems are designed for
  non-disabled persons where walking or running is
  required (survival of the fittest mindset).

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Nature of the Problem

• Restoration of accessible and other
  post-disaster living situations for persons with
  mobility impairments are often not addressed.

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Focus Areas of the Research

• Emergency Managers Training
• Surveillance Systems
• Local Emergency Management Plan
• Guidelines
• Inclusion of Persons with Mobility
• Impairments

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Findings on Emergency Managers Training

• 63 of the emergency managers had not taken
  the FEMA, G197, or similar course on special
  needs populations.

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Elements of Best Practices in Emergency Managers
Training

• Local emergency management plan specifies that
  training and exercises involve persons with
  disabilities.
• Drills include evacuating persons with mobility
  impairments from different situations.

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Findings on Surveillance
Systems

• Among the emergency managers, 57 do not know
  how many people with mobility impairments live
  within their jurisdiction.

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Surveillance Findings (Cont.)

• Among those who had numbers on persons with
  mobility impairments
• 17 use database
• systems.
• 17 use an estimate.
• 10 use census data.

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Elements of Best Practices with Surveillance

• Planning for Special Medical Needs Shelter
  (shelter for medical and electricity/equipment
  needs)
• Plan covers identifying persons/needs, creating
  database, shelter design and location, consumer
  education. (Lamar University, Department of
  Nursing, Pam Moss, RN., Beaumont Emergency
  Management, Sgt. Robert Smith).

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• Response to Katrina
• Taking a lesson from New Orleans, Kansas Gov.
  Sebelius ordered state emergency planners to
  identify residents of Kansas major cities who
  would be unable to evacuate whether due to a
  physical disability or lack of transportation.
  (From Lawernce Journal-World, 9-8-05)

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• Consumer Survey
• Collected on-line personal disaster experiences
  from persons with mobility limitations.
• From participants recommendations two disaster
  preparedness posters were created.
  www.nobodyleftbehind2.org click on Findings

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Findings on Emergency Management Guidelines

• Only 20 of the emergency managers reported
  having specific guidelines to assist persons with
  mobility impairments during disasters.

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Elements of Best Practices on Plan Guidelines

• Created Annex/Appendix on Persons with
  Disabilities.
• Made specific reference to the needs of persons
  with disabilities in the various sections of the
  local emergency plan.

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Findings on Inclusion
of Persons with Mobility
Impairments

• Little to no representation of persons with
  mobility impairments in planning or revision
  stages.
• No Best Practices Found

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• Findings on Resources Needed
• To develop guidelines for persons with
  mobility impairments, emergency managers need
• 67 Financial resources.
• 33 Knowledgeable and trained
• personnel.
• 25 A FEMA, State, or County
• mandate.
• 17 Greater public education
• efforts.

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Consumer Feedback

• No evacuation plans in multi-story buildings,
  leaving people who are unable to walk abandoned
  at stairwells or at inoperable elevators without
  assistance.

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Consumer Feedback

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has
  been in existence for more than 15 years, yet
  disaster-related or local services still can be
  found to be inaccessible and disaster-related
  personnel uninformed of the needs and how to
  assist people with disabilities.

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Consumer Feedback

• Other frightening and sometimes life-threatening
  situations occur when infrastructures fail,
  including electrical power outages and
  non-accessible transportation.

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Questions After Katrina

• Are there differences in disaster preparedness
  for persons who are disabled, seniors, or the
  seriously ill, and within classes, races and
  among states?
• 4 years after 9/11, when will local emergency
  management infrastructures be strengthened?

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The Next Disaster Avian Pandemic Influenza

• Are You Prepared? Have You Prepared Your
  community, including Persons with Disabilities?

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• For more Information
• www.nobodyleftbehind2.org