Back to most
recent news releases • Browse archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • Email this
story
'When A Ramp is Not Enough' -- addressing needs of disabled in disasters
A grant from CWS' partnership with Habitat for Humanity International helped re-build the wheelchair ramp on this home near Poplarville, Miss. CWS is working to make sure a range of disabilities are addressed in disaster planning and recovery.
Photo: Matt Hackworth/CWS
|
By Matt Hackworth/CWS
NEW YORK -- In October 2003, as aggressive wildfires spread through southern California, hundreds of people did not know an inferno was dangerously close to their homes.
They did not know it was time to evacuate because they could not hear the televised news reports bringing the warnings.
"This impacted people who were deaf and who could only see pictures of the fires -- not realizing they were in danger," a report from California's State Independent Living Council later surmised. "People who are blind were ...unlikely to be watching (or listening to) television."
What happened in California has occurred in countless disasters. Service dogs are frequently mistaken for pets. Mentally disabled people are commonly arrested by police. Or crowded conditions in a public shelter force a person with autism or another severe behavioral disorder into a crippling meltdown.
In the frenzy to control an emergency, people with disabilities are often overlooked. That's why the National Organization on Disability launched the Emergency Preparedness Initiative, designed to help those who plan for disaster understand and meet the needs of the disabled community.
"One of the challenges in emergency preparedness is that first responders are very focused, and don't always know people with disabilities," NOD Religion and Disability Program Director Ginny Thornburgh said. "Rather than being fearful, we're saying 'let's be better equipped.' " One way NOD helps prepare first responders is by connecting them to local councils on independent living, who have an on-the-ground sense of disabilities in a community. The connection can yield a disaster plan that encompasses those who may have trouble knowing when to evacuate.
It can also help address a broad spectrum of disabilities and meet the panoply of needs.
"Disabilities ... include more than wheelchairs," said CWS Emergency Response Specialist Joann Hale. "What about psychological, mental disabilities? There are so many types of disabilities."
Hale points out that accommodating a wheelchair is not reason enough to send a disabled person to a special-needs shelter. "People assume that those in wheelchairs should be going in to special needs shelters, when in reality they don't need it," Hale said. "It fills up the special-needs capacity that is really needed by other people."
NOD's Thornburgh says expanding a community's ability to meet multiple needs is where the faith community can play an important role. NOD's Congregations Who Care -- Prepare outreach program is designed to help communities of faith find a role in local disaster planning.
"What we're urging is for congregations to meet together and determine who can offer what," Thornburgh said. "We're talking about a cooperative effort here. If you plan ahead, the disaster is still hard but not as hard."
NOD invited CWS to participate in a national conference on disabilities and disasters early this year, which included "When a Ramp is Not Enough" as a theme. Disabilities and disasters will also be addressed at the CWS Domestic Disaster preparedness Forum in March.
As Hale and other CWS disaster workers engage local and national partners, the agency works to ensure that first responders, voluntary organizations, and the faith community plan to address special needs.
"CWS has always looked out for vulnerable communities, and tried to be their voice in a disaster," Hale said. "Disaster can expose vulnerability in people with disabilities, and it's our responsibility to make sure their needs are met."
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
Back to most
recent news releases • Browse archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • Email this
story