1. Inclusive Emergency Management
ADA and Emergency Management
in North Carolina

2. Hurricane Katrina (2005)

3. American with Disabilities Act 1990
Title II: Public Entities (State & Local Governments) State and local governments must provide program access to people with disabilities

4. American with Disabilities Act 1990
Title III: Public Accommodations (Private Businesses) Places of public accommodation must remove architectural barriers

5. American with Disabilities Act 1990
Title IV: Telecommunications
Communications with people with disabilities are equally as effective as communications with others

6. “But we don’t have the time or money…”

7. Los Angeles Lawsuit (2009)
Communities Actively Living Independent and Free (CALIF), et al. City of Los Angeles

8. Los Angeles Court Ruling (2011)

9. New York City Lawsuit (2011)
Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York, et al. v.
Michael R. Bloomberg and The City of New York

10. New York City Ruling (2013)

11. What does that mean to you?

12. North Carolina will include people with access and functional needs in all aspects of the emergency management system:
Planning
Prevention/Preparedness
Response
Recovery
Mitigation

13. Let’s do this!

14. Service Animals vs. Companion Animals
Dogs
Miniature horses
All other animals are companion animals

15. Can only ask two questions:
Service Animals
Can only ask two questions:
Is this service animal required because of a disability?
What work or tasks has the animal been trained to perform?

16. Access and Functional Needs
People with Access and Functional Needs
People with Disabilities

17. Access and Functional Needs
Communications Maintaining Health Independence Services and Support Transportation

18. Preparedness Alert and warning Personal preparedness
Non-profit agency preparedness
DME agreements
Interpreter agreements
PAS agreements

19. Planning Inclusive language in all plans
Planning considerations for people with access and functional needs (sheltering, transportation/evacuation, communication)
Representatives from disability communities on planning committees

20. Training and Exercise
Trainings with and for people with access and functional needs
Members of training and exercise planning committee(s)
Use of people with AFN in exercises (rather than actors portraying them)

21. Response Ask for the resources needed – the earlier, the better
DME, CMS
FAST teams
Early evacuations as needed, including accessible transportation
Accessible services for sheltering

22. Recovery
Government assistance is fully accessible (e.g. FEMA trailers)
Recovery centers are ADA compliant
Inclusion of AFN on Long Term Recovery Task Forces

23. Mitigation Inclusion in mitigation planning
Use of universal design in mitigation measures, if applicable

24. Sheltering
ADA accessible facility (or capability to make it accessible for duration of shelter being open)
Allowance of service animals
Accessible/assistive supplies
Communication access

25. Sheltering Properly trained shelter workers/volunteers
Continued evaluation of needs for resources by people with access and functional needs (Use of FAST teams)
Demobilization planning for shelter guests (are their homes still accessible?)

26. Communications
Redundant methods of communications before, during and after disasters
ASL interpreters included in press conferences
Multi-language alerts and warnings, as well as video relay alerts
Simple language for ease of comprehension
High contrast visuals (e.g. yellow or white text on black or blue backgrounds)

27. Contact
Sheri Badger Disability Integration Specialist Human Services Branch North Carolina Emergency Management desk cell