Emergency Management Resources for Access and Functional Needs

​Plan for independence during times when services are unavailable during an emergency.

Do You Have a Support Network?

• Build a communication plan with your family and friends for calling, texting, or emailing agreed upon family/friends if you can't reach each other directly.
• Share your plan with family, friends, and/or coworkers so they know how best to help you in an emergency.
• Show someone else how to use your assistive devices in case you need help.
  
• Talk to your employer about any help you might need in case of emergency or evacuation. 
  
• Find out what services are available through professional or volunteer​​ emergency responders. Some state emergency management offices or agencies keep a voluntary registry of people with disabilities.
  

 Do You Have All Important Information and Phone Numbers?

• Keep a list of all your allergies, medical conditions, and assistive devices.
• Keep copies of your identification, insurance cards, Medicare and Medicaid cards, etc. 
• Keep copies of all medical orders, prescriptions, and/or agencies and organizations you use.
• Keep medical alerts current and visible.
• Be familiar with local warning alert systems best suited to your needs and ways to receive them at home and while traveling.
• You can get and maintain electronic and/or copies of your medical records from doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, etc. 
• Put digital copies of your important information onto a flash drive for easy transport and save to to a cloud drive.
• Get and maintain copies and/or maintain electronic versions of health records from doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and other sources. Put important information onto a flash drive for easy transport in the event of an evacuation. Health and Human Services (HHS) provides an online tool to help people locate and access their electronic health records from various sources. http://healthit.gov/bluebutton​​
  

Do You Know How to Receive Treatment?

• Have other locations for continuing needed treatment, such as dialysis, oxygen, or cancer treatments, in case your regular locations are inaccessible. 

Do You Know How to Get/Keep In-Home Health Care?

• Work with your in-home healthcare agency to put together a plan for in-home or personal assistive services in emergencies.
• Find out if you can continue getting help from organizations like Meals-on-Wheels, Center for Independent Living, or medical/life alert services. 

Do You Have Accessible Transportation?

• Plan ahead for accessible transportation. You might need to evacuate or get to a clinic/hospital. Work with local services to identify those services. 

Do You Have an Evacuation Plan?

• During an emergency, be ready to explain to first responders and emergency officials that you need to evacuate and choose to go to a shelter with your family, service animal, caregiver, personal assistant, and your assistive devices.

Note: people should only be referred to a medical shelter when they have acute health care needs and would typically be admitted to a hospital.

Plan for Power Outages Before They Happen

Some essential assistive devices and medical equipment may need constant power. Now is the time to plan to keep those items powered.

• Plan for backup power such as batteries, generators, or other alternatives.
• Fully charge your backup batteries for all your devices—assistive devices, cell phones, laptop computers, and tablets.
• Have backup chargers or 12-volt adapters that plug into car battery ports or inverters.
• Plan to receive emergency notifications/information if you're unable to use a TV, radio, or computer - such as an adaptive weather alert system, email or text message alerts, or other means.
• Be ready with options for refrigerated medications and alternative, low-tech ways to communicate - like whiteboards and markers, or flashlights to help with lip-reading and signing.