When preparing for emergencies, the term 'special needs' can
cover a number of situations, not just someone with an identified
mental or physical disability. An elderly person, someone with
limited English, a pregnant woman, someone with a broken leg, or a
single parent with many children all need additional help. If you
have a friend, neighbour, or family member with 'special needs'
discuss their needs and make sure you understand each other's
expectations, in the event of an emergency.
Build a personal support network of a minimum of three people to
alert you to weather warnings, or to help if you need to be
evacuated. Your support network can be from your family, carers,
friends, neighbours, or co-workers; people you know you can rely on
to understand what needs to be done. You might require more
detailed planning for emergencies, so inform your local SES of any
special needs or concerns you have about isolation or
evacuation.
Make sure members of your support network understand how to
operate and equipment that you need.
Do you or the person you care for:
- Need assistance with personal care, such as bathing or
dressing
- Use special equipment such as a wheelchair, oxygen bottle, or
shower chair
- Need accessible transportation
- Need help to leave their home or office
- Need help shutting of utilities such as power and water,
or
- Require a service animal such as a seeing-eye dog?
People with physical or sensory disabilities will require
additional help and again you could subtly lead them into a
conversation about what they have planned in case of natural
disasters. The local SES welcomes information about people with
special needs who might require additional help to get to a
shelter.
Someone who is visually impaired might be extremely reluctant to
leave familiar surroundings when the request for evacuation comes
from a stranger. A guide dog could become confused or disoriented
during a disaster. People who are blind or partially sighted may
have to depend on others to lead them, as well as their dog, to
safety during a disaster.
If you or someone in your family has a specific medical
condition, consider writing a document that details the medical
condition, the medications, treatment, or other considerations that
will enable others to provide additional care during an emergency.
Keep this and a list of essential medications and their correct
dosage in your Emergency Kit. Good preparation could
be the difference between life and death. Don't forget to list your
doctor's details on your list of emergency contacts.
If you use a motorised wheelchair, have a lightweight manual
wheelchair available for emergencies. Know the size and weight of
your wheelchair, in addition to whether or not it is collapsible,
in case it has to be transported. Make a list of the local
non-profit or community-based organisations that know you or assist
people with access and functional needs and keep that with your
Emergency Plan. If local authorities advise that you need to
evacuate, be sure to take any of the following items you need with
you.
During an emergency, you might become isolated by floodwaters,
so keep a seven-day supply of essential medication at all times.
Keep copies of your essential pharmacy scripts in your Emergency
Kit along with the correct dosage. If you don't have a script, in
an emergency any pharmacy can provide you with a three-day supply
of medication, but you'll need to know the correct name and dosage.
Also, if you cannot pay for the medication, in an emergency
pharmacists can get reimbursement for those goods, from the
Department of Health and Ageing.
Wearing a medical alert tag or bracelet to identify your
disability or health condition makes good sense and assists with
emergency medical treatment, should that be necessary. Medical ID
bracelets are an excellent way of keeping loved ones with medical
conditions safe.
Different medical conditions require different equipment, so
evaluate your own situation and decide on the best course of
action. Know where to go for assistance if you are dependent on a
renal dialysis machine or other life-sustaining equipment or
treatment. If you lose power or become isolated and your special
needs cannot be met contact your doctor or local hospital for
advice. Call Triple 000 for all life-threatening emergencies.
Consider purchasing, or know where to source, a back-up generator
if the equipment you rely on requires electricity. Examples of
equipment that requires power to operate or recharge:
- CPAP machine
- Renal dialysis
- Mechanical respirator
- Electric wheelchair
In most cases, trained assistance dogs will be allowed to stay
in emergency shelters with their owners. Those that are accepted
may require proper identification and proof of
vaccination. Check with your local council for more
information.
Know the location of your nearest hospital. Always have a
phone available that doesn't rely on mains power, remembering
cordless phones don't work during power outages. Be fully prepared
to leave your home if an extended power outage occurs. Oxygen
cylinders rely on gas pressure to operate, but you'll need to store
enough cylinders for a 72-hour period to be self-reliant.
Mental Health
In Australia, our understanding of mental health has improved
considerably during the past decade. A 2007 study found that almost
half the Australian population ages 16-85 years experienced mental
disorders during the previous 12 months. Depression and anxiety are
the most prevalent mental disorders. Around one million Australian
adults and 100,000 young people live with depression.
If you have a mental condition and you're worried about how you
might cope during an emergency, talk to your doctor about
counselling to improve your coping skills. If a family member or
neighbour has a mental illness, ask them about how they think they
might cope, and whether they could need additional help. In
particular people with agoraphobia, personality disorder, social
anxiety, or obsessive compulsive disorder could require special
consideration if they need to leave their home.
Natural disasters can cause severe psychological stress before,
during, and after an event. Keep a close eye on your household to
assess how everyone's coping. Fatigue can exaggerate stress, so
make sure you get enough sleep even though you might be scared or a
foreign place. You're ability to respond quickly, make good
decisions, and keep everyone calm will depend on you being
alert.