Emergency Preparedness and Populations with Special Needs

How are special needs defined?  It depends on the needs in question during an emergency situation.  The needs can appear before, during and after an emergency and can range from visual/hearing/mobility impairments to the elderly, to children, and even to pets.

While emergency preparedness is critical for any person, the following links contain information specifically for people with special needs:

• American Red Cross | General information for populations with special needs
  
• National Organization on Disability | Emergency Preparedness Initiative for people with disabilities
• Bay Area collaborative | Disaster preparedness for vulnerable populations
• Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disaster | Alameda County- information for all populations with special needs
• American Academy of Pediatrics | Disaster preparedness information for children (Link to come)
• National Mental Health Association | Mental health needs and coping with disaster
• FEMA | General information for people with special needs (Link to come)
• Red Cross | Foreign language materials (Link to come)
• U.S. Dept of Homeland Security | Disaster supply checklist for special needs (Link to come)
• City of Los Angeles | Preparedness handbook for populations with special needs

• Disaster Preparedness for Special Populations | pdf 716kb
• Special Populations Emergency Planning | pdf 824kb
• Emergency Preparedness for Children with Disabilities Presentation | Powerpoint Presentation
• Employee Information Form for Children with Special Needs | Word