Depending on the age of the child and where their emotional well-being is, have many small conversations with them about disasters. Do not do this in one sitting and then walk away. Make sure they understand that it is important they be aware of their surroundings and what might be occurring at all times.
BY LAURA GEORGE
If you have ever read some of the other articles I have written for this awesome magazine, Exceptional Parent, then you know I don't take a traditional approach to the topic. National Preparedness Month occurs every September. As it is the season to reevaluate our preparedness plans, our first thoughts go to the traditional list of supplies that are needed to have for the first 72 hours after a disaster. This can easily be found at ready.gov/build-a-kit. As parents of children with disabilities, we know there are always additional things beyond what is noted in the list that our child will also need to be prepared for in a disaster. One way to prepare them is to get them involved through games ( ready.gov/kids/games). I have even played a few of them myself!
ACTION PLAN: Take time to connect with your local community resources such as the fire, police and health departments. Many times, they will have emergency preparedness fairs where there will be items handed out that can be placed into your family's emergency preparedness kits.
Have you given thought to creating a plan for your child's transportation program, or the school they attend? An extremely thorough resource that I discovered recently, called "Ability Hacker" ( abilityhacker.com) posted an article on August 6, 2019, called, School Planning for Kids With Disabilities. The article presents many scenarios to consider including some sample emergency plans that can be edited and shared with the child's school. Please take a tour through the site as there are many other additional well-written topics on the subject.
Consider also your community gathering places such as a house of worship, community center or library. Learn and understand what plans are in place to protect or evacuate your child should an event happen. Inquire as to the staff's training and procedural knowledge. Church Planting Tactics ( churchplantingtactics.com/church-emergency-response- plan/) highlights several key points and also offers a sample plan. If one doesn't exist, do not be afraid to get involved and help them create a plan. Remember that you are all learning while protecting your families together.
Sit down with your child and make sure they know some disaster planning basics. Some basic knowledge they should know might be: name, address, phone number and a back-up number as well. If it is an older child than they should know where the parents work, what their routine is, exterior family members and some of the communities that their parents connect with. Depending on the age and the strength of their well-being, they should also have some basic knowledge of finances, companies and passwords that parents work with.
Parents, grandparents, guardians, family and friends can easily create a binder that holds all the personal, medical and financial information it takes to run the house. It should include such things as details about the child's health, paperwork relating to the service animal, where they should go if something happens to you, the birth certificates, mortgage (also handy if your neighborhood is destroyed and you need authorization to get back to your home), passwords, companies who regular bills are paid to, and model/serial numbers for any equipment that is medically inserted or relied upon to be able to conduct their lives independently. Consider including organizations or people that are relied upon to communicate or pass information through such as an interpreter or out-of-state relative. Bonus points are earned if, after creating this book, it is realized that it "recreates" your child and your family completely on paper if everything were lost. Additional points are given if the entire book has been twice scanned or photographed, put on USB key fobs and sent to one in-state and one out-of-state family member or friend.
Depending on the age of the child and where their emotional well-being is, have many small conversations with them about disasters. Do not do this in one sitting and then walk away. Let them know you care. Make sure they understand that it is important they be aware of their surroundings and what might be occurring at all times. In schools, sadly we now have to talk with them about active shooters.
By now the school should have communicated its activation plans and if not, approach them directly. Make sure the child knows what to do during a fire, tornado or other drill situation. Learn and know where the school's reunification site will be and create a plan with your child as to how you will find each other. When you go to the airport with your children take the time to pre-discuss safety precautions rather than surprising with the instructions once there. My child and I always wear matching outfits at the airport to make it easy to identify the other in a panic situation.
Take time to connect with your local community resources such as the fire, police and health departments. Many times, they will have emergency preparedness fairs where there will be items handed out that can be placed into your family's emergency preparedness kits. Even better, stop and talk with them. Find out how they can help you help your child. This may include formal introduction of the family to them and/or a "wellness visit" from them, to see the house and specialized equipment that is important to the child's well-being. Take advantage of any fingerprint or DNA programs that are being offered and put those into the binder that you created earlier as well. Reach out to the nearest Center for Independent Living found through the National Council for Independent Living ( ncil.org) or through the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living ( april-rural.org) or both administered for and by people with dis abilities and ask them about their involvement in your community's emergency preparedness plans. They will be happy to help to create a plan and assist with obtaining additional resources for implementation. If it seems weak, offer to get involved and help them connect with the community. (That is what I did and am still doing 13 years later!)
If the child is in a group home, find out what their evacuation policies and procedures are as well as how you will be reunited with them. If reunification is not possible, then make sure the plan is well documented on paper as to where they will receive continued care and how soon the information will be relayed to you. Of additional importance is if knowing if they are living in a young adult community to find out how their ability to live independently is designed and maintained to continue through a disaster, instead of being sent to a medical facility.
After a disaster everyone deserves and has the right to return to life as they know it. While the location may change, the right to keep the family together and continue to live independently is sacred. To borrow the phrase, Disability Rights, Obligations and Responsibilities Before, During, and After Disasters, is something every parent, and every community lay person should know when it comes to addressing children in disasters. That quoted phrase comes directly from a line underneath the title of an After-Action Report called, Getting It Wrong: An Indictment with a Blueprint for Getting it Right. It was authored by Marcie Roth; June Isaacson Kailes; Melissa Marshall, J.D. and published by the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies with financial support from Portlight and other financial allies in the disability community of May 2018. It is a 166-page document pointing out weakness in the current status of national emergency design in accommodating people with disabilities in disasters that also offers suggestions, laws and congressional testimonies in addressing the topic ( disasterstrategies.org/application/files/3615/2718/6466/5-23-18_After_Action_Report_- _May__2018.compressed.pdf).
Please read further on current additional legislation headed by Senator Bob Casey's office in Pennsylvania on the Real Emergency Access for Aging and Disability Inclusion for Disasters Act (REAADI) and the Disaster Relief Medicaid Act (DRMA) at ( reaadi.com) which are both going through the House and Senate as we speak.
The REAADI Act was created to address and secure that the disability and elderly communities have equal accessibility to pre, during, and post emergency design activities along with planning for their communities. DRMA addresses the ability to have access to Medicaid insurance when temporarily relocated to another state as a result of the disaster.
With new thoughts on legislation making improvements on the topic, consider also, new tools in the emergency preparedness kit that you create for your child. A brand new favorite tool of mine, which I recently tested at training with the No Town Left Behind organization ( notownleftbehind.org) is the Adapts Portable Transfer Sling ( adapts.org) created to address the concerns of an elderly couple and a triple amputee who were concerned with the ease of evacuation off of a plane. It is extremely portable and easy to use. The creator has provided a discount of 15% (code LGEO15) when purchasing the product. Another great product that is good for keeping medications cool for more than a day where is no power is the "Frio® Insulin Cooling Case ( frioinsulincoolingcase.com) which is reusable, and water activated. Portable oxygen tanks and CPAP batteries may also be some new technology to consider along with a stylish medical alert bracelet that can hide a USB key fob. One more tool is the workbook I created, called, Emergency Preparedness Planning ( leanin-link/epp-workbook.com) to collect, keep and educate on all the medical data kept for your child.
In conclusion, no one likes to talk about disasters, let alone those that might include our children, and especially when they are exceptionally wonderful. But it is important to take five minutes each week during National Preparedness Month and follow through on a thought of what should be done to prepare your child and you to be safe from a disaster. Do not concern yourself with how traditional preparedness is designed, instead create a preparedness kit that you are confident in and can easily follow through with. A great emergency preparedness plan is unique and successful. No matter how little is in the kit, it will help benefit and give your child access to a safe future. Be prepared! Be Alert! Be safe!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Laura George is an Emergency Management Disability Liaison and has been recognized for being a subject matter expert and educator on the topic of emergency design and disabilities. She is also the Inclusive Community Director for No Town Left Behind, is a member of the National Council for Independent Living (Emergency Preparedness committee), works with Miracle Relief Collaboration League (Disaster Assistance), works with Georgia Storm Trooper Network, and is now administrating the FB: InclusiveDisasterNews [ facebook.com/groups/InclusiveDisasterNews/] page launched as a result of Hurricane Dorian. She is also an author, presenter and caregiver.