Preparing seniors with disaster mitigation
Abstract
When disasters such as floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes strike a community, seniors often need the most assistance but can mistakenly be overlooked during relief efforts. The Green River Area Development District in western Kentucky created the Disaster Relief Corps to address the disaster response needs of local seniors.
Issue
When a tornado hit western Kentucky, many seniors did not evacuate their homes because they did not have flashlights, medicines, or hard shoes and were isolated in high-rise apartments without heat and electricity. The Green River Area Development District has implemented a disaster mitigation and education program for seniors to prevent similar situations from occurring again.
Action
The Disaster Relief Corps, an AmeriCorps program, has helped prepare seniors for disaster in the following ways:- Identifying at-risk seniors who will need special assistance in the event of a disaster and identifying additional shelters
- Training the RSVP, Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent volunteers in CPR and First Aid and training them to be local disaster volunteers. This increased the local volunteer response by 10 percent
- Training AmeriCorps members in mass care; shelter and damage assessment; and disaster logistics
- Educating local seniors one-on-one on how they can mitigate the effects of a disaster
Context
The Green River Area Development District covers 199,700 residents, 17 percent of whom are age 60 and older, in rural western Kentucky. The elderly population of the district is expected to increase by 46 percent by the year 2020.
Outcome
Seniors and volunteers in the Green River Area Development District are better prepared for future disasters.
Posted On
March 1, 2001For More Information
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