2008
Interagency
Action Plan
For the Emergency Preparedness
Of People with Disabilities and
Special Health Needs
State of Hawaii
January 2008
State of Hawaii Departments or
Agencies
(alpha)
Department of Education (DOE)
Department of Health (DOH)
Department of Human Services (DHS)
Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB)
Executive Office on Aging (EOA)
State Civil Defense (SCD)
State Council on Developmental Disabilities (DDC)
County Departments or Agencies
(alpha)
City and County of Honolulu, Department of Emergency
Management
County of Hawaii, Civil Defense Agency
County of Kauai, Civil Defense Agency
County of Maui, Civil Defense Agency
Community Agencies
(alpha)
American Red Cross (ARC)
Healthcare Association of Hawaii
Agencies Representing Individuals
with Disabilities
(alpha)
County of Hawaii, Mayor’s Committee on Persons with
Disabilities
County of Kauai, Mayor’s Advisory Committee for Equal
Access
County of Maui, Mayor’s Commission on Persons with
Disabilities
Hawaii Centers for Independent Living
Hui Kupuna VIP
National Federation of the Blind
National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Hawaii Division
This document is
available on the DCAB web site
To request a large
print or Braille copy
contact the
Disability and Communication Access Board
at dcab@doh.hawaii.gov or (808) 586-8121
(V/TTY)
Table of Contents
Working Group................................................................................................................................................................ ii
Background....................................................................................................................................................................... 1
target Population.................................................................................................................................................... 3
Population
Described................................................................................................................................................... 3
Population
Quantified................................................................................................................................................... 4
Basic Premises and Assumptions........................................................................................................... 7
Goals and Objectives........................................................................................................................................... 8
Goal 1:......... Level I public emergency
evacuation shelters shall meet minimum requirements for facility access to
enter/exit and use toilet facilities........... 9
Goal 2:......... The
capacity of the community to “shelter in place” shall be increased....... 10
Goal 3:......... The
number and dispersion of public emergency evacuation shelters able to provide
augmented health support with Level II shelter spaces shall be increased, with
the long-term goal of having ALL public emergency evacuation shelters contain
Level II shelter spaces.................................................. 11
Goal 4:......... Individuals
with disabilities or special health needs shall have an emergency evacuation
plan in place developed by themselves or by their caregivers to implement in
the event of a notification of evacuation................................................. 12
Goal 5:......... Education
shall be provided to all licensed health care providers in order that
appropriate emergency guidelines for health care facilities and/or residential
settings are in place................................................................................................. 13
Goal 6:......... All
notifications of pending emergencies and evacuation shall be accessible to
persons with disabilities using multiple methods of delivery........................... 14
Goal 7:......... Individuals
with disabilities or special health needs shall have an emergency evacuation
transportation plan developed by themselves or their caregivers to implement in
the event of notification for evacuation................ 15
APPENDICES......................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Appendix A.... Identified Special Needs Bed Listing.................................................................................... 17
Appendix B.... Goal 1 - Background & Progress
to-date...................................................................... 18
Appendix C.... Goal 2 - Background & Progress
to-date...................................................................... 20
Appendix D.... Goal 3 - Background & Progress
to-date...................................................................... 22
Appendix E.... Goal 4 - Background & Progress
to-date...................................................................... 24
Appendix F..... Goal 5 - Background & Progress
to-date...................................................................... 27
Appendix G Goal 6 - Background & Progress
to-date........................................................................ 29
Appendix H.... Goal 7 - Background & Progress
to-date...................................................................... 33
Appendix I....... Acronyms................................................................................................................................................ 35
Appendix J..... Glossary of Termnology............................................................................................................. 38
In
the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks and the subsequent
disasters of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma of 2005, the inability of the
system to respond to the needs of persons with disabilities or other special
health needs became more apparent as a major deficiency in our overall
community emergency preparedness and response system. The State of Hawaii and its political jurisdictions would
fare no better than mainland locations in meeting the needs of persons with
disabilities were similar events to occur tomorrow. The disasters, coupled with the growing recognition that people
with disabilities or special health needs are a more vulnerable population in
an emergency or natural disaster when their daily survival mechanism, coping
skills, and support systems are interrupted, have emphasized the need to
prepare a strategic plan which addresses the unique circumstances of persons
with disabilities and special health needs in disaster preparedness planning.
A
Harris Poll commissioned by the National Organization on Disability in November
2001 discovered that 58% of people with disabilities did not know whom to
contact about emergency plans in their community. Some 61% of those surveyed had not made plans to quickly and
safely evacuate their homes. And,
among those individuals with disabilities who were employed, 50% said that no
plans had been made to safely evacuate their workplace. All of these percentages were higher
than the percentages for people without disabilities.
A
Working Group was originally convened in October 2005 to address this
issue. Participants consisted of
the Disability and Communication Access Board, State Department of Health,
State Civil Defense, State Department of Human Services, State Department of
Education, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, County Civil Defense
Agencies, American Red Cross, Executive Office on Aging and Healthcare Association
of Hawaii. In 2006 membership of
the Working Group expanded to incorporate representatives from disability
groups statewide: County Mayor’s
Committees/Commissions on Persons with Disabilities, Hawaii Association of the
Blind, and Hawaii Services on Deafness.
In 2007 the Hawaii Association of the Blind no longer had a
representative on the Working Group and Hawaii Services on Deafness closed at
the end of June. Both agencies
were removed from the list of the Working Group members. Several new agencies joined the Working
Group in 2007: Hui Kupuna VIP
representing individuals who are elderly and have a disability, the Hawaii
Centers for Independent Living and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Hawaii
Division representing individuals with disabilities, and the National
Association of the Blind representing people who are blind and visually
impaired.
The
Interagency Working Group initially developed the first Plan in February 2006
with six (6) goals. It was updated
in February 2007 with the addition of a Goal 7 that focused on transportation
needs of the target population. This current 2008 Plan represents an update to
the prior versions incorporating amendments to the existing goals and
objectives along with additional information reflecting progress made and
suggestions from the community statewide.
It is the intent of the Interagency Working Group to review and revise
the Plan on an annual basis.
In
Fall 2007 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services through the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative
Agreement, allocated funds to sponsor statewide public forums to review and
comment on the 2007 Plan. Forums
were conducted during October 2007 in each county. Specific counties developed their own invitation lists of
key representatives from agencies, advocates, individuals with disabilities,
family members and caregivers.
Attendance at each forum was diverse, resulting in comments and suggestions
that were creative and unique to each location. Representatives from Guam and American Samoa were invited to
and included at the Oahu forum, along with two representatives from each
neighbor island forum. Using this
methodology to obtain input resulted in development of this 2008 Plan that represents
the needs of a broader base of Hawaii’s community of people with disabilities.
This
Action Plan is not an emergency preparedness document, nor is it a special
health needs response plan. It is
a roadmap to ensure that other legislative, administrative, or programmatic
efforts are inclusive of the issues of people with disabilities or special
health needs. This document does
not propose an entirely separate set of emergency procedures or plans. The Plan is an acknowledgment that the
interests of people with disabilities and special health needs must be made a
part of overall community efforts.
Everyone will benefit if the overall system is better prepared to
respond to the entire community including people with disabilities or special
health needs. Finally, the Plan is
in recognition of the fact that people with disabilities and their caregivers
have as much responsibility as any other citizen to prepare for surviving an
emergency.
This
Plan focuses on those individuals with disabilities (physical, mental, or
health-related) that may compromise their ability to respond or respond as
effectively as the general population.
While many people will have unique needs in an emergency, such as those
resulting from limited English speaking skills, homelessness, pet ownership,
geographic isolation, cultural isolation, single parent status, criminal
offender status, chemical dependency, or low income status, this Plan does not
specifically address those circumstances at this time.
The
Working Group has chosen to focus on emergency preparedness, notification, and
sheltering in this Plan as the most pressing issues. The Working Group acknowledges the importance of other
issues such as infrastructure, recovery and long-term support system. This Plan is an evolving document and
other issues will be integrated into the Plan as the efforts of the Working
Group continue.
There
is no absolute definition of the population of individuals with disabilities or
special health needs for the purposes of this Plan. However, the population can be described, rather than
defined, by its needs in the event of an emergency or disaster, and can be
clustered by their level of independence and need for health or medical support
acknowledging that even with the best of ‘descriptions,’ the population is not
homogeneous and does not come together through a common service delivery
system. For the purposes of this
discussion the population can be very broadly described and clustered into the following
categories as outlined by the American Red Cross (ARC) national guidelines: