Emergency planning and people with disabilities: Massachusetts’ lessons learned

Abstract

Continued challenges responding to large-scale emergencies are recognized in the aftermath of events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Elders and people with disabilities often included under the label of “vulnerable” or “special populations,” are especially hard hit given communication and accessibility barriers often faced even prior to an emergency. Approximately 15 percent of those living within our communities have disabilities, which jumps to 41 percent for those 65 years or older.1 The prevalence of functional limitations due to age or disability indicates the need for these factors to be accounted for in planning, response, recovery, and mitigation efforts at the national, state, and local level to ensure a truly effective emergency response system that meets the needs of all residents. To achieve this effort emergency management, public health, disability and elder stakeholders within Massachusetts joined together to identify the existing planning gaps and to explore potential solutions to support emergency preparedness so that emergency management systems are responsive to all individuals in the community, regardless of age or disability. The Commonwealth’s process and lessons learned are discussed later.