Set up a Personal Support Network: Designate someone to check on you in an emergency and to help with evacuation or sheltering-in-place.
Prepare and carry with you an emergency health information card: This will help you to communicate if you are found unconscious or incoherent. Include information about your medications, adaptive equipment, blood type, allergies and sensitivities, insurance numbers, immunization dates, communication difficulties, and preferred treatment, as well as contact information for your health providers, personal support network and emergency contacts.
Personal Care Assistance: If you receive assistance from a home healthcare agency or in-home support provider, find out how the provider will respond in an emergency. Designate backup or alternative providers that you can contact in an emergency.
For Persons Using a Wheelchair: Plan for how you will evacuate in an emergency and discuss it with your care providers. If you use a motorized wheelchair, have a manual wheelchair as a backup.
For Persons who are Blind or Visually Impaired: Keep an extra cane by your bed. Attach a whistle; in case you need to attract attention. Exercise caution when moving, paths may have become obstructed.
For Persons who are Hearing Impaired: Keep extra batteries for your hearing aids with emergency supplies. Consider storing your hearing aids in a container attached to your nightstand or bedpost, so you can locate them quickly after a disaster.
For Persons with Communication Disabilities: Store paper, writing materials, copies of a word or letter board and preprinted key phrases in your emergency kit, your wallet, purse, etc.
Emergency Power Planning Considerations for Critical Life-Support Devices: This emergency power planning checklist is for people who use electricity and battery dependent assistive technology and medical devices. Use the checklist to make power-backup plans. Make sure to review and update this checklist every six months.
Create a plan for alternative sources of power.
Read equipment instructions and talk to equipment suppliers about your backup power options.
Get advice from your power company regarding type of backup power you plan to use.
Regularly check backup or alternative power equipment to ensure it will work during an emergency.
Teach your neighbors and caregivers how to use your backup systems and operate your equipment.
Keep a list of alternate power providers.
Ask your nearby police and fire departments and hospital if you could use them as a backup for your equipment power if your backup systems fail.
Label all equipment with your name, address, and phone number. Attach simple and clear instruction cards to equipment and cover them with clear packing or mailing tape.
Keep copies of instructions for each piece of equipment, along with serial and model numbers, in a waterproof container or in your emergency supply kits.
Contact your power and water companies about your needs for life- support devices (home dialysis, suction, breathing machines, etc.) in advance of a disaster.
Let your fire department know that you are dependent on life-support devices.
All ventilator users should keep a resuscitation bag handy. The bag delivers air through a mask when squeezed.
If you receive dialysis or other medical treatments, ask your health care provider for the plans in an emergency and where you should go for treatment if your usual clinic is not available after an emergency.