What Can Wheelchair Users Do In An Emergency Evacuation

We asked our Emergency Preparedness Working Group members to share their experiences with a wide array of disasters and emergencies. They came through with detailed advice on what to do before, during, and after an evacuation, including going to a shelter. Also, they offer tips for sheltering at home.

Planning for an evacuation

The best time to plan what you would do if forced to evacuate is well before any emergency arises. Take a few minutes to complete this preparation list provided by ready.gov:

• Plan how you will leave and where you will go. In high-stress situations, staying with family or friends is most comfortable.
• Check with local officials about available shelter spaces.
• Identify a place that allows pets, as most public shelters only accept service animals.
• Familiarize yourself with alternate routes and means of accessible transportation.
• Have a family/household plan in place to keep in touch if separated and have a designated meeting place.
• Have a go-bag prepared if you evacuate on foot or by public transportation. Include supplies for traveling longer distances if you have your own transportation.LINK TO THAT POST
• Keep a full tank of gas if evacuation seems probable, and have a portable emergency kit in your vehicle.
• If you do not have a vehicle, plan with family or friends on how you will leave and contact your local emergency management office for other resources.

During an Evacuation

If you must go to a shelter, working group member Dante Gonzalez shares that you can find a list of open shelters on the FEMA app. You can also text SHELTER and your ZIP CODE to 43362, or visit the American Red Cross Shelter Map.

If you are using your vehicle, leave early enough to avoid being trapped by the weather or the emergency. Follow the recommended evacuation routes, be alert for road hazards such as washed-out bridges or fallen power lines and listen to a battery-powered radio for further alerts or evacuation instructions. Also, tell your out-of-state contacts where you are going, leave a note at home with your destination, lock all your windows and doors, and unplug all electrical equipment.

After an Evacuation

Check with local officials where you are staying and at your hometown before considering traveling home. Also, let friends and family know before you leave and when you arrive. If you are cleared by local authorities to return:

• Make sure any debris from the storm or disaster is cleared before you return home.
• Charge your devices and purchase backup batteries in case power is out for a long time.
• Fill up your gas tank, and pack water and non-perishable food.
• Avoid and report all downed power and utility lines to the power or utility company.

See our Ready to Roll program's Evacuating to a Shelter for more information.

Evacuating from a building with stairs

Here are some ideas of what to do if you are not on the ground floor of a building and cannot use the elevators:

• Consider keeping a backup chair on the ground floor in case you must be carried downstairs.
• Ask your apartment or condo management where you can safely store your spare wheelchair on the ground level and what plan is in place for evacuating wheelchair users who are not on the ground floor.
• Identify and be familiar with the Areas of Refuge locations or designated stairwells where wheelchair users can call emergency services and wait for assistance if they are alone or cannot be carried.
• Smoke hoods can also be life-saving for anyone who has to wait for assistance.
• Know if an evacuation chair is available and where it is located in the building.
• United Spinal offers a Fire Safety for Wheelchair Users at Work and at Home guide that provides information for wheelchair users, fire, safety, and building code officials, emergency plan coordinators, building owners and managers, employers and supervisors, and office fire marshals.

Pets and Service Animals

Don't forget to include your service animals and pets in your emergency planning process.

Pets and service animals are a part of the family, so they need to be included in your emergency preparedness planning. This planning should include:

• Evacuation plan for your pet - Know a safe place to take your pet because some hotels and shelters do not allow pets
• Develop a buddy system - Make a plan with relatives, neighbors, and friends in case you are unable to evacuate your pet
• Have your pet microchipped - Make sure to keep the contact information updated and include an emergency contact that is not in your immediate area
• Contact your local emergency management office, animal shelter, or animal control office for any additional advice.

What's Your PEEP?

PEEP stands for personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP). It is for individuals who may have difficulty evacuating a building to a "place of total safety" without support or assistance from others. Owners, occupiers, and managers have a legal duty to ensure that all people inside their buildings can reach a "place of total safety" in the event of a fire.

The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) offers an Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities. This guide provides information for building occupants and managers in non-residential buildings on creating an emergency evacuation plan that includes people with disabilities.

Make an Emergency Transportation Plan

An emergency transportation plan is essential for your safety and ability to evacuate. Before an emergency happens, it is recommended to list normal and alternative routes to your desired destination. Ready.gov offers a Commuter Emergency Plan that lets you keep all of your transportation information together.

Finding transportation for evacuating can be extremely challenging for people in the disability community. Evacuation Transportation Planning Tips for People with Access and Functional Needs, written by Disability Policy Consultant and Emergency Preparedness Working Group member June Kailes, offers helpful suggestions. Some ideas include creating a support team of people willing and available to help you in an emergency. Also, ask your local accessible transportation providers to keep you on a list of people who will need transportation in an emergency.

Many local emergency management offices maintain registries of people with disabilities so they can be located and assisted quickly during a disaster. Are you on their list? June says this part of preparing is so important because "often during an evacuation, more people need transportation than available resources can support."

Sheltering at home

Emergency Preparedness Working Group member Andy Weyant lost power for five days during Hurricane Sandy. He offers these questions and comments to help others with disabilities brainstorm what they may personally need:

"If you use a wheelchair, what does it take to simply get up out of bed and into your wheelchair every day? Ask yourself if you need help or can do it yourself," he says. "What devices do you use? What would you do if you used a motorized lift for transfers and the power went out? Do you have a backup generator?"

Andy suggests you stay in a hotel room on the other side of town to test your plan. "What would it take for you to do that? Break it down by starting in the morning, hour by hour, every day."

Learn More

See The Wheelchair Emergency Preparedness Compendium You Always Wanted for more Emergency Preparedness Resources. United Spinal Association's Ready to Roll program, in partnership with the Neilsen Foundation, provides disaster relief for wheelchair users. To learn if you qualify, contact our Resource Center. The featured image is by Scott Dalton for the Red Cross. It shows a Texas woman who evacuated to a shelter when she lost electricity during an emergency.

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