Legal Obligations

According to Executive Order 13347 Federal Department's and agencies are required to:

• Consider, in their emergency preparedness planning, the unique needs of agency employees with disabilities and individuals with disabilities whom the agency serves.
• Encourage, including through the provision of technical assistance, as appropriate, consideration of the unique needs of employees and individuals with disabilities served by State, local, and tribal governments and private organizations and individuals in emergency preparedness planning.
• Facilitate cooperation among Federal, State, local, and tribal governments and private organizations and individuals in the implementation of emergency preparedness plans as they relate to individuals with disabilities.

Facilities receiving Federal funds

• Any community that receives Federal funds such as financial support from the U.S. Department of Transportation must ensure that its transportation facilities are accessible to People with Disabilities even in an emergency. This requirement can be found under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title 29 and Section 794, Presidential Executive Order 13347, and Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

General Information

• Emergency Planning for Business Offices
• The Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy Emergency Preparedness

Local Government Resource

• One of the most important roles of local government is to protect the citizenry from harm, including helping people prepare for and respond to emergencies. Making local government programs on emergency preparedness and response accessible to people with disabilities is a critical part of this responsibility. Making these programs accessible is also required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).
• An ADA Guide for Local Governments

People with Disabilities

• "People with special needs include a wide variety of individuals who are identified by a variety of names - people with disabilities such as individuals who use wheel chairs, people who are blind or visually impaired, people who are deaf or severely hard of hearing, people with severe emotional impairments, people with severe intellectual impairments, people with medically related needs such as diabetics, individuals with seizure disorders, and many others that require unique assistance. Individuals with disabilities are defined as persons who have physical or mental impairment that limit major life activities, have an ongoing or chronic condition, or even if they don't have such a condition, are regarded by the community as being disabled. And this doesn't necessarily include the ever-enlarging group of senior citizens who have a greater number of special needs including Alzheimer's and related memory disorders" -Carl T. Cameron, Inclusion, Inc.  For more information please visit Inclusive Preparedness.Org

Temporary Disabilities

People who experience a temporary loss of physical function such as walking due to a broken knee, or the inability to move quickly due to pregnancy. Those disabilities could be caused by an event which pushes the boundaries of an individual's ability to cope.

• First Responders The term "first responder" refers to those individuals who in the early stages of an incident are responsible for the protection and preservation of life, property, evidence, and the environment, including emergency response providers as defined in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101), as well as emergency management, public health, clinical care, public works, and other skilled support personnel (such as equipment operators) that provide immediate support services during prevention, response, and recovery operations.