Preparedness for those with special needs

If you anticipate needing assistance during a disaster, make a list of family, friends and others who will be part of your plan. Talk to these people and ask them to be part of your support network. Share each aspect of our emergency plan with everyone in your group including a friend or relative in another area who would not be impacted by the same emergency who can help if necessary. Make sure everyone knows how you plan to evacuate your home, school or workplace and where you will go in case if a disaster. Make sure that someone in your personal support network has an extra key to your home and knows where you keep your emergency supplies. Teach them how you use any lifesaving equipment or administer medicine in case of an emergency. If you use a wheelchair, oxygen or other medical equipment show friends how to use these devices so they can move you if necessary or help you evacuate. Practice your plan with those who have agreed to be part of your personal support network. Inform your employer and co-workers about your disability and let them know specifically what assistance you will need in an emergency. This is particularly important if you need to be lifted or carried. Talk about communication difficulties, physical limitations, equipment instructions and medication procedures. If you are hearing impaired, discuss the best ways to alert you in an emergency. If you have a cognitive disability, be sure to work with your employer to determine how to best notify you of an emergency and what instruction methods are easiest for you to follow. Always participate in exercises, trainings and emergency drills.

If you take medicine or use medical treatment on a daily basis, be sure you have what you need on hand to make it on your own for at least a week. You should also keep a copy of your prescriptions as well as dosage or treatment information. If it is not possible to have a week long supply of medicines and supplies, keep as much as possible on hand and talk to your pharmacist or doctor about what else you should do to prepare.

[Annabelli]

Preparedness for those with special needs

People who have addictive habits like alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, etc. need to learn how to deal with an emergency situation. It is not just people wheelchair bound or dependent on medication who will struggle.

If you choose to live places that are not quickly accessible, you need to think about it. If you are determined to live on the 60th floor of an apt building, it is only fair that you should move down a few floors when apts are available.

If you choose to live in the country and do not have a good roadway and the area floods occasionally, unless you are making a living off the land (farming, ranching, etc) maybe you should move.

No one is so "elite" that they will be rescued first.

I have been told by numerous people that they are prepared to stay home and watch it on TV. It's never going to happen to them.

One good way of saving things like family pictures is to share them. Maybe all your relatives live close to you but you can also start a photo exchange with Church members who live far away. Just remember to put all your information on the back of the photo.

I do not have the capability of making the long haul of physical endurance and challenge. But I can teach and prepare those who can. In any emergency, you may have to sacrifice yourself in order to save the ones you love.

How well do you cope with everyday emergencies? Do your children know how to dress themselves? We do not have a fire drill every night but we do find our shoes and set them beside our beds. Is there food in the refrigerator that a young child can eat if something happens to you? It could be hours and sometimes days before someone comes to your house. Your children might just think you are sleeping. Keep a package of cheese singles, chicken nuggets, bread and crackers, and water in the refrigerator and teach your child to open that door and get it.

It used to drive my mother crazy because I was always preparing for the next season. When the last school bell rang in May, she knew that I was going to start getting ready for the next school year. It drives my kids nuts because I want them to check out their fishing gear in the winter time. Why not flush your radiator in the summer? Why wait until November and daylight savings time changes?

Most people think that Summer Time is the least expensive season of the year. Actually you need more money in the summer than any other season of the year. Not because you are planning a vacation but mostly because you have not prepared for it. More injuries, more infections, more doctor/hospital bills. More home maintenance, more plumbing repairs than any other time of the year, roof repairs, gas leaks...etc. Companies discreetly lay off employees during the summer or cut back working hours and over time. More babies are born in Sept than any other month of the year and many women have to leave the work force during the summer months. Summer time can be a real headache. Then a lot of folks are dealing with college tutition.

I can never be prepared enough to sit back and take it easy. It's just one thing after another.

Originally Posted by Annabelli

Preparedness for those with special needs

People who have addictive habits like alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, etc. need to learn how to deal with an emergency situation. It is not just people wheelchair bound or dependent on medication who will struggle.

If you choose to live places that are not quickly accessible, you need to think about it. If you are determined to live on the 60th floor of an apt building, it is only fair that you should move down a few floors when apts are available.

If you choose to live in the country and do not have a good roadway and the area floods occasionally, unless you are making a living off the land (farming, ranching, etc) maybe you should move.

No one is so "elite" that they will be rescued first.

I have been told by numerous people that they are prepared to stay home and watch it on TV. It's never going to happen to them.

One good way of saving things like family pictures is to share them. Maybe all your relatives live close to you but you can also start a photo exchange with Church members who live far away. Just remember to put all your information on the back of the photo.

I do not have the capability of making the long haul of physical endurance and challenge. But I can teach and prepare those who can. In any emergency, you may have to sacrifice yourself in order to save the ones you love.

How well do you cope with everyday emergencies? Do your children know how to dress themselves? We do not have a fire drill every night but we do find our shoes and set them beside our beds. Is there food in the refrigerator that a young child can eat if something happens to you? It could be hours and sometimes days before someone comes to your house. Your children might just think you are sleeping. Keep a package of cheese singles, chicken nuggets, bread and crackers, and water in the refrigerator and teach your child to open that door and get it.

It used to drive my mother crazy because I was always preparing for the next season. When the last school bell rang in May, she knew that I was going to start getting ready for the next school year. It drives my kids nuts because I want them to check out their fishing gear in the winter time. Why not flush your radiator in the summer? Why wait until November and daylight savings time changes?

Most people think that Summer Time is the least expensive season of the year. Actually you need more money in the summer than any other season of the year. Not because you are planning a vacation but mostly because you have not prepared for it. More injuries, more infections, more doctor/hospital bills. More home maintenance, more plumbing repairs than any other time of the year, roof repairs, gas leaks...etc. Companies discreetly lay off employees during the summer or cut back working hours and over time. More babies are born in Sept than any other month of the year and many women have to leave the work force during the summer months. Summer time can be a real headache. Then a lot of folks are dealing with college tutition.

I can never be prepared enough to sit back and take it easy. It's just one thing after another.

Here are my thoughts on your response ...


1. People who have addictive habits like alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, etc. need to learn how to deal with an emergency situation. It is not just people wheelchair bound or dependent on medication who will struggle.

Personally, those that have addictive habbits need to simply stop those addictive habits. Part of the reason we have to go through these trials is to change our ways, humble oursleves, and be "spritually ready" for the 2nd coming. When he does arrive, the change will be huge. If we cannot change our own ways now, how will we change them later?

2. If you choose to live in the country and do not have a good roadway and the area floods occasionally, unless you are making a living off the land (farming, ranching, etc) maybe you should move.

I like your observation. Many people get themselves in predicaments and expect others to get them out of it. While its true, many will help - but the fact is, as we have seen in Katrina, those that dont help themselves, cant get help immediatly. Which is why we have preparedness to begin with.

3. I do not have the capability of making the long haul of physical endurance and challenge. But I can teach and prepare those who can. In any emergency, you may have to sacrifice yourself in order to save the ones you love.

The fact is we dont know if and when we will be asked to move. There are many disasters that will preceed the 2nd coming. So, everyone - EVERYONE - must prepare, even those with special needs. Faith without works is dead.

4. How well do you cope with everyday emergencies? Do your children know how to dress themselves? We do not have a fire drill every night but we do find our shoes and set them beside our beds. Is there food in the refrigerator that a young child can eat if something happens to you? It could be hours and sometimes days before someone comes to your house. Your children might just think you are sleeping. Keep a package of cheese singles, chicken nuggets, bread and crackers, and water in the refrigerator and teach your child to open that door and get it.

First of all, thats what a 72 hour kit is all about. Also, thats why we have a support network of friends and family. I live alone, but someone in my ward does have a key to my house. As far as how we cope with everyday emergencies. Well, I can tell you from direct experience, many people tend to panic at the slightest problem. I've heard good members of the church have a temper tantrum because the local TV station isnt playing their BYU game on TV. I often wonder, what BYU taught them while they were in college - because it wasnt what I learned when I was there! If they panic over something like that, how useful will they be in a real emergency.

5. I can never be prepared enough to sit back and take it easy. It's just one thing after another.

I must have reorganized my 72 hour kit at least 6 times in the last year. Although you can never be totally prepared for everything, you can listen to Heavanly Father to determine what it is you need to prepare for as an individual or for your family. I've had those answers come to me in more ways than one. My advice, do what you are inspired to do, and leave the rest up to Heavanly Father.