Someone mentioned California flooding, the poor disaster response, and the difficulties for disabled people -- plus the fact that their disaster training didn't address disabilities at all. So I jotted down some ideas for anyone running a shelter or other emergency service with regards to accommodating special needs.


This bit is from a different new article quoted:
>>She didn’t know that the state-run shelter’s staff could have helped her get access to Aaron’s medication.<<

I doubt that. When I see disabled people talk about disaster planning, they fully expect to have only themselves and their immediate family to rely on. Shelter personnel only say they will "try" to accommodate needs if they are "notified in advance." That does no good if they haven't got medications (they only stock the common stuff because space is tight) or edible food (they're not required to have allergen-free stuff, and in fact most emergency food contains major allergens) or whatever. So disabled people learn not to rely on them.

Not guaranteeing survival needs, and not addressing their needs in training, is exactly why disabled people don't rely on emergency services if they have any other option. They know they're an afterthought and their needs are too inconvenient for others to bother with, especially in an emergency.


Things you can do to make emergency planning effective for people with disabilities:

* Start by tallying all limitations among planning team members. Probably you have at least someone who wears glasses, and food issues are quite common nowadays. Think about past temporary issues too, like being pregnant or having broken a leg. Then tally disabilities in your immediate families and closest friends, stuff you know well enough to compensate for. Talk about how to accommodate those needs first.

* Next, you need at least one team member and preferably more people with a major disability. Vision, hearing, and mobility are among the biggest groups for physical. Anxiety, depression, and PTSD are common mental ones. More is better because each disability has its own special needs, some of which are really not obvious unless you've lived with it or know someone who does. This will expand the range of what you can cover with personal knowledge.

* Find as many more volunteer consultants as you can from as many disabilities as possible. Ask about their needs and their disaster plans so you can incorporate those ideas. Emphasize that they are doing you a huge favor and you are super grateful for their expertise and assistance.

* Search for disaster planning advice for disabilities in general along with specific ones. Bear in mind that some of this advice is illegal to follow like "have an emergency supply of your medications." This means some people will be very reluctant to tell you they have broken the law in hopes of surviving.

* You can also use this handy-dandy guide to disabilities and accommodations for the workplace. How much of that stuff is versatile enough to be worth stocking? If possible, get a manual (or print out the website) on how to accommodate disabilities so you can make your own version based on what you have at the shelter or other emergency location.

* Some needs are obvious. You will need wheelchairs and stretchers, because people get hurt in emergencies and may lose gear they previously had. If there are stairs, you need a stair-chair in case the elevator goes out. Spare batteries for motorized chairs, because in some models those are easily compromised by bad weather or driving into a puddle. Any life or health sustaining equipment that requires power but isn't enough to send someone to a hospital, like intermittent supplemental oxygen or a CPAP machine. You can't stock everything but try for the most common ones. Make sure you have nonperishable food and beverages that are free of the top 8 allergens, including baby formula/food. Good luck finding that, I've researched it for my writing and the most I've found is a few camping meals, not rat bars. Also stock at least halal and kosher, because folks will refuse to eat if they're not sure it's acceptable. Portable privacy screens are a huge salvation for dignity as many disabilities require doing undignified things and doing those in public is miserable for everyone. These are the one thing that's cheap and easy to make with various materials, so use whatever you can get.

EDIT 1/30/23 -- see_also_friend tipped me to Humanitarian Daily Rations, which have no animal products (except trace amounts of dairy) or alcohol, to maximize the possible users.  It's not perfect but it's better than what I had found previously.

* Create an accommodations closet of tools and supplies that are as versatile as possible. Frex, eye covers work for sleep aids, migraine relief, and eye injuries. Nonslip mats, slip-on ergonomic handles, grip straps, dressing rods, reachers, line-and-dot pens, magnifiers, earplugs, communication cards, etc. can make life a lot easier. For pity's sake include wiping rods. Make a kit for repairs and modifications: tape, glue, string, wire, some kind of permanent moldable compound, etc.

Get a repair kit for manual wheelchairs and another for electric ones if you can. Be aware that doing anything to adaptive equipment may void the warranty and/or insurance, but some people would rather have a working device NOW than rely on official help that could take weeks or months to arrive. Besides, they can always lie that they "lost" it in the crisis if necessary.

Some of this stuff is expensive, some is cheap. Cheap is better than nothing. Everyone who uses daily living aids of some sort, which is a LOT of people, will need some or all of them replaced in an emergency. Some they can do without for a while, but others mean they plain can't do the thing and someone else has to or it won't get done. A major reason why emergency services like shelters don't accommodate disabilities is they aren't required to do more than a minimum, it's expensive, and they never have enough money to begin with. So they aim for the most good for the most number, and that leaves disabled people hanging.

* Check your local demographics. Many groups have a higher prevalence of some complaints. Make sure you cover those for your bigger groups. If you have lots of old people, pack extra stuff for seniors like walkers and magnifiers. Many Asian and black folks can't digest lactose, so the more you have of them, the more dairy-free stuff you need. Identify your top five or so groups at least and ask them about their particular needs that outsiders may not think of. If you're lucky you'll have some of those folks in your team already, but maybe not all of them. Some won't talk to outsiders, that's their choice, at least you tried.

* A serious issue is newly disabled people, temporary or permanent. They don't have the skills that experienced ones do, physical or emotional, to handle all the challenges. Plus the shock of going from abled to someone society considers disposable. Even if it's something as simple as a cast or an eye patch that'll come off a few weeks later, there are a million things that are difficult or impossible to do at the moment, which burns up already short physical and emotional energy. One thing promising for preventing or easing PTSD is stacking-sorting games like Tetris. Get some burner phones or older phones, load them with such games and maybe some mental health apps like meditation, then you can hand that to someone and hopefully get them out of your hair for a while. It won't hurt and might help.

And on that note: anyone can have a meltdown, go nonverbal, or otherwise hangfire in a crisis. Some disabled people are totally used to this and know how to handle it because it happens to them frequently. Most "normal" people do NOT know, cannot even identify what is happening to them because it's unfamiliar, and will panic. It helps very much to have some disabled or at least trained volunteers watch for this so they can step in and say, "You are having a meltdown. It sucks but it isn't life-threatening, it is pretty normal in a crisis, and it will pass. Let's go to a quiet corner where I can give you some ideas on getting through it." Or whatever.

If possible, look for disabled people who are calm. Some of them have survived so much shit that almost nothing fazes them anymore. Ask if they're interested in volunteering, because they can help novices figure out how to do stuff. Is there an occupational therapist in the staff or refugees? Ask them too, their whole job is figuring out how someone can work around limitations to do things. If you can afford the freaking expense or find a used copy, grab one of their handout manuals that explains how to do a zillion things working around impaired body parts. You can photocopy that for the newly disabled. "Here's 10 pages on how to cope with a leg injury, I hope this helps a bit." Are there home health aids who can either assist with or at least explain how to do things like putting on a shirt with only one working arm? There are usually parents who know how to feed someone who can't feed themselves, like anyone who's just injured both hands. Use what you have. Besides, every minute you can fill with activity is one less minute you have to panic.

* Does some of this sound overly medical? Don't count on hospitals to pick up the slack, they tend to overflow in emergencies and are busy keeping people from dying. Not dying, not their problem today. This means lots of folks who would normally see a doctor and maybe be in a hospital "for observation, just to make sure" will be turned out to make room for people who are spurting blood. Somebody else has to take care of the walking wounded and the disabled. Mass-casualty incidents suck like that.

* All emergency staff should have training in trauma-informed care, de-escalation skills, and emotional first aid. Preferably also self-defense in case someone loses their shit and turns violent. You always need those skills in an emergency, but you may need them more with disabled people panicking over whether their needs will get met. Understand that most disabled people have a lot of experience getting ignored or hurt by people who are "supposed" to help, and it can make them wary or hostile toward anyone in authority. They will likely not believe your offers of help are genuine and competent until they have seen you demonstrate.

* Once you've got at least some plans and stock to accommodate disabilities, reach out to the disabled community in your area. Hospitals, clinics, therapy facilities, senior centers, etc. may let you put a notice on their bulletin board or they might be willing to send a blurb through their email. Mention what resources you have. Offer classes on disaster planning for people with disabilities so that interested parties can learn adaptive skills like one-handed CPR. Involve as many people as you can. If they see you asking for their help and input early, they will be more likely to seek your services in a crisis.

* And document that you have done these things. Put it on your shelter website or whatever. "We have 5 manual wheelchairs in child to adult sizes" or "We have 10 cases of Brand A baby formula, which is free of the top 8 allergens" is much more reassuring than "We try to accommodate special needs, but we cannot guarantee specifics due to supply issues in an emergency." Your shelter or other service should specify exactly which needs you can support and how. If there are needs you cannot support, then be honest about that, if it is legal for you to do so. Some organizations demand that their staff lie about that.

That adds up to a lot of extra work and expense, when emergency workers are usually overworked, understaffed, and have nowhere near enough budget already. They have to cut corners somewhere, and disabled people are usually corners that get cut, and disabled people know this. But they're about 20% of the population, which means you will have a lot of them on your hands in an emergency. Every emergency. It will be much harder to handle, and take much more staff time and energy to address, if you have not got the right tools and supplies to meet their needs. 10 seconds of "It's in the accommodations closet, behind that sign there" is infinitely better than 10 minutes of "I'm sorry, we don't have that" while someone keeps insisting you do something, anything, about their problem. Planning ahead and stocking accordingly will save you many headaches.

As you can see with California, America is rather bad at handling emergencies. I don't envy the folks who are genuinely trying to help with a dearth of supplies and support. :/ But information, that I can fill in, I've researched this stuff plenty.