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Special Needs
Download Emergency Preparedness for Special Needs Fact Sheet
If you or someone close to you has a disability or a special need, you may have to take additional
steps to protect yourself and your family in an emergency.
- Create a support network to help in an emergency.
- Tell these people where you keep your emergency supplies.
- Give one member of your support network a key to your house or apartment.
- Contact your city or county government's emergency information management office. Many local offices keep lists of people with disabilities so they can be located quickly in a sudden emergency.
- Wear medical alert tags or bracelets to help identify your disability.
- If you are dependent on dialysis or other life sustaining treatment, know the location and availability of more than one facility.
- Show others how to operate your wheelchair.
- Know the size and weight of your wheelchair, in addition to whether or not it is collapsible, in case it has to be transported.
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View Instructional Video
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| Disability/Special Need
| Additional Steps
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| Visually impaired
| May be extremely reluctant to leave familiar surroundings when the
request for evacuation comes from a stranger. A guide dog could become confused or disoriented in a
disaster. People who are blind or partially sighted may have to depend on others to lead them, as well
as their dog, to safety during a disaster.
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| Hearing impaired
| May need to make special arrangements to receive warnings.
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| Mobility impaired
| May need special assistance to get to a shelter.
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| Non-English speaking persons
| May need assistance planning for and responding to emergencies. Community and cultural groups may be able to help keep people informed.
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| People with special dietary needs
| Should take special precautions to have an adequate emergency food supply.
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| People with medical conditions
| Should know the location and availability of more than one facility if dependent on a dialysis machine or other life-sustaining equipment or treatment.
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| People with cognitive disabilities
| May need help responding to emergencies and getting to a shelter.
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| People with dementia
| Should be registered in the Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return Program
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If you have special needs: Find out about special assistance that may be available in your community. Register
with the office of emergency services or the local fire department for assistance so needed help can be provided.
Check for hazards in the home
During and right after a disaster, ordinary items in the home can cause injury or damage. Anything that
can move, fall, break or cause fire is a home hazard. Check for items such as bookcases, hanging pictures,
or overhead lights that could fall in an earthquake or a flood and block an escape path.
Be ready to evacuate
Have a plan for getting out of your home or building (ask your family or friends for assistance, if necessary).
Also, plan two evacuation routes because some roads may be closed or blocked in a disaster.
- Discuss your needs with your employer.
- If you are mobility impaired and live or work in a high-rise building, have an escape chair.
- If you live in an apartment building, ask the management to mark accessible exits clearly and to make arrangements to help you leave the building.
- Keep specialized items ready, including extra wheelchair batteries, oxygen, catheters, medication, prescriptions, food for service animals, and any other items you might need.
- Be sure to make provisions for medications that require refrigeration.
- Keep a list of the type and model numbers of the medical devices you require.
- Know the location and availability of more than one facility if you are dependent on a dialysis machine or other life-sustaining equipment or treatment.
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