Mobility limitations may make it difficult for a person to use stairs or to move quickly over long distances. Limitations may include reliance on mobility equipment such as a wheelchair, walker, crutches or a walking cane. People with a heart condition or respiratory difficulties may also have limited mobility.
Your Emergency Plan
If you use a wheelchair or scooter, request that an emergency evacuation chair be stored near a stairwell on the same floor where you work or live, so that your network can readily access it to help you evacuate. The person with the disability should be involved in the selectio of the evacuation chair.
People who require the use of an evacuation chair should designate a primary and backup contact to assist them in the event of an evacuation. Create an evacuation plan in collaboration with the building manager and contact persons, and practice using the chair with them.
In your personal assessment checklist, identify areas of your body that have reduced sensation so that these areas can be checked for injuries after an emergency, if you cannot do so yourself.
Check with your local municipal office to find out if emergency shelters in your area are wheelchair accessible.
Recommended additional items checklist:
Tire patch kit
Can of seal-in-air product (to repair flat tires on your wheelchair or scooter).
Supply of inner tubes
Pair of heavy gloves (to protect your hands while wheeling over glass or other sharp objects).
Late-free gloves (for anyone providing personal care fo you).
Spare deep-cycle battery for a motorized wheelchair or scooter.
A lightweight, manual wheelchair as a backup to a motorized wheelchair (if feasible).
Spare catheters (if applicable)
Your power outage backup plan
Other:
NOTE: Assisting a person with a mobility disability - what to do -
If possible, use latex-free floves when providing personal care.
Try to ensure that the person's wheelchair is transported with the person.
If this is not feasible, employ other evacuation techniques as appropriate, such as use of the evacuation chair, shelter-in-place (if instructed to do so), or lifts and carries by trained personnel.
Do not rush or pull a person's wheelchair without their permission, unless it is a matter of life or death.
Blessings,
Bravo Echo Out
Preparedness101@protonmail.com
