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 Reprinted from
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Expect the Unexpected
On September 11, 2001, John Abruzzo, a quadriplegic and associate accountant for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was in his office on the 69th floor of the North tower of the World Trade Center when the terrorist attacks occurred.
With a special lightweight evacuation wheelchair and the assistance of coworkers, Abruzzo made it down the 69 floors to safety in 90 minutes. Abruzzo got the escape chair after the 1993 bombing, during which it took 6 hours to evacuate him and his standard electric wheelchair.
Curtis Grimsley, a computer analyst for the Port Authority was also in his office on the 70th floor of the North tower on September 11. Grimsley, a left, above-knee (AK) amputee, survived by walking down 70 flights of stairs using his computerized left leg. He credited his escape in part to practicing with his prosthesis during frequent fire drills.
Rick Hofmann, a right AK amputee and executive director of the American Amputee Soccer Association, would applaud these survivors' foresight and self-reliance. He would also say that planning and self-reliance are essential for people with disabilities to survive in crises situations.
Having completed an emergency response management certification course through the Institute for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Hofmann emphasizes that people with disabilities must plan to be self-reliant in emergencies, because "it's not going to be the government" that rescues them.
He took the course in part to find out what government agencies were learning about how to deal with the amputee community. " I wanted to find out what the government agencies are telling each other and what they're telling their trainees" says Hofmann.
The course attracted personnel from hospitals, law enforcement, fire, safety, emergency response, and planning agencies. After completing it, Hofmann says, "If I was concerned about FEMA and emergency response before I took that course, I'm freaking terrified now."
As evidence that people with disabilities need to rely on themselves in emergencies, Hofmann cites the documented shortcomings in the government response to Hurricane Katrina.
More pointedly, he refers to a statement made on April 10, 2006, by Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, regarding the possibility of bird-flue pandemic. "Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal or state government will rescue them will be tragically mistaken."
"It doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence," observes Hofmann.
Other points of concern that Hofmann encountered in his training:
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None of the emergency response planning agencies whose employees he met had an individual with a disability on its staff.
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Emergency responders he spoke to had little experience assisting people with special needs. None had practiced rescue operations with, for example, a person in wheelchair.
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FEMA's guidance document for assisting people with disabilities, "Preparing and Planning for Individuals With Special Needs," has a one sentence comment under the category of "mobility impaired": "May need special assistance to get to a shelter."
The remainder of the document merely outlines what special-needs populations might do to prepare themselves for emergencies. (The guidance document is available at www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/specialplans.shtm)
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Hofmann is careful to note that these are only his experiences and observations, while he is quick to praise emergency response personnel in general.
"God bless the emergency response teams," he says. "They are so good and so dedicated and so self-sacrificing. I have the utmost respect for front-line emergency response personnel."
However, he notes, in a disaster, they may not legally be able to be there for you. In the course, Hofmann learned that state and county emergency agencies limit the level of risk to which their emergency response personnel can be exposed. Some, for example, recall personnel to shelter for their own safety when wind speeds reach a sustained level of 45 miles per hour or higher. Other jurisdictions may have different wind speed hazard risk recall policies.
"The root of the issue is that people need to know what their local emergency responders can and cannot do so they're not surprised," says Hofmann. He recommends checking with your local agency to find out what its emergency response policies are and where designated emergency shelters are located.
Emergencies may not wait until everyone's at home. So make sure you have some basics in your car in case you're separated from your family or stranded away from home.
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A plan for contact or rendezvous with family members in case land lines and cell phones are not working |
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An emergency road kit with jumper cables, fuses and fix-a-flat |
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A road atlas or GPS system to help you get to your destination if main roads are blocked or impassable |
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A mobile cell phone charger |
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Bottled water |
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Energy bars |
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Waterproof matches or (better) a butane lighter and a few plumbers candles |
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Toilet paper |
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Spare dry socks |
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Also, to raise awareness of the need for self-reliance, Hofmann teams with an EMT friend and does presentations for church groups, schools, PTAs, family groups, and parents of children with disabilities.
"We go out and talk to them and say, "Here's my perspective as a member of this community, and here's his perspective as a professional EMT." We talk about how to plan," says Hofmann.
"My concern for the 'disability' community is that we, especially, have to be smarter because we're already starting at a disadvantage," sums up Hofmann.
"I can't go out and chop firewood or carry water as well as I used to. So, I have to say, at my particular age and physical configuration, what do I have to do to make sure that my family and I are safe?"
"We have to be self-sustaining. We have to be able to figure it out for ourselves. We have to be able to think for ourselves, because it's not intuitively obvious any more that someone is coming to help in a time of need."
Information on how to prepare emergency survival kits and "go bags" can be found in the special pullout section. But Hofmann has a few other pointers to add.
Put road atlases in all your emergency go bags
Include a deck of cards for adults and games for children in your emergency kit
Check with county officials to find out what their emergency policies and procedures are, particularly regarding rescuing and sheltering service and therapy animals and pets
If you have schoolchildren, find out what the local school districts emergency procedures are. According to Hofmann, some schools go into lock down in a state of emergency and assume authority over the children in loco parentis. Even if parents can get to the school, they may not be able to remove their children.
Stella Sieber, a bilateral AK amputee who assisted in relief actions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina offers these additional pointers to consider in preparing for an emergency:
Update your local fire department and emergency response unit on your condition and where and how to check on you if you don't respond.
Put ICE (In Case of Emergency) numbers on your cell phone. "A police officer will look to see if you have ICE listed, "says Sieber, "or will look at recent calls to help notify someone of an emergency."
Have two places to go in case of power outage that you know will accommodate you.
If you have battery-powered prostheses or other equipment, how would you re-charge if there were a power outage?
What meds or other supplies would you need quickly, if you had to relocate?"
What items would you need (walker, cane, liners, cleaning solutions, etc.) if you were asked to evacuate quickly?
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