09/21-25/2024 – “Emergency Planning that Protects the Lives of People with Disabilities” – ICMA Annual Conference

Kristi Avalos will present this topic at the virtual portion of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Topic Overview:

Obviously, emergencies impact citizens with and without disabilities.  However, history has shown that people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by disasters because their needs are often overlooked or completely disregarded. Their evacuation, shelter, and recovery experiences have been appallingly more devastating than the experiences of people without disabilities. Too often this population has been unable to evacuate because transportation was inaccessible. Further, people with visual and hearing disabilities could not obtain necessary information regarding imminent disaster and evacuation alerts pertinent to their safety because this communication did not comply with federal law. To ensure that individuals with disabilities do not experience these types of injustices during future catastrophes, emergency plans must be intentional and specific as they acknowledge and address the difficulties experienced by this population.

In this presentation, participants will learn how to prepare an Emergency Evacuation Plan that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and protects the lives of people with disabilities in their community. Requirements for transportation, emergency shelters, emergency egress routes, and accommodations for service animals will be covered that will save the lives of city and county residents, including individuals with mobility, visual, hearing, and cognitive impairments as well as people whose survival requires medical equipment. Attendees will also learn about questions that can and cannot be asked of people with disabilities and about politically correct disability-related terminology.

For more information and registration, click here.