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Emergency Preparedness and Response for Disabled Individuals: Implications of Recent Litigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Lainie Rutkow ,
Holly A. Taylor  and
Lance Gable
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Extract

In an emergency, challenges faced by disabled individuals may be exacerbated by ineffective communication, power outages, transportation shortcomings, and inhospitable shelters. During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gulf Coast shelters did not routinely provide closed captioning or sign language interpreters; for individuals with auditory disabilities, understanding instructions issued in these shelters was extremely difficult. Individuals with mobility-related disabilities experienced challenges evacuating from their homes due to public transportation that could not accommodate wheelchairs. After the hurricanes, difficulties arose in identifying wheelchair-accessible trailers and in communicating with disabled trailer residents. Failing to anticipate these challenges intensifies the disadvantaged situation of those with disabilities during an emergency.

Type
JLME Supplement
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 43 , Issue S1 , Spring 2015 , pp. 91 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2015

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