Introduction

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that healthcare providers ensure their services are accessible. These obligations extend to preparing for and responding to emergencies and disasters. This fact sheet is a compilation of ADA legal requirements and best practices for providing accessible and equitable emergency and disaster response services.

What does the ADA require?

People with disabilities have the right to access and receive the benefits of all emergency services, programs, and activities at the same time as people without disabilities. This means you must provide individuals with disabilities full and equal access to healthcare services and facilities, make reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures, and provide effective communication. For more information about effective communication, reasonable modifications, and physical access please refer to our previous fact sheets.

Accessible Alerts

It is important to ensure that your alert system is accessible for people with disabilities. There are many ways to provide emergency alerts: visual alerts, audible alerts, tactile alerts, vibrating alerts, text message alerts, and many more. Using a combination of notification methods will be more effective than relying solely on one method. For example, combining visual and audible alerts will reach a wider audience than either method would alone.

Accessible Evacuation

During an emergency or disaster, it is important that there are accessible evacuation routes for people with disabilities. Emergency exits must be clearly marked for easy identification. People with disabilities may encounter a variety of obstacles when evacuating to safety. For example, a person with a mobility disability may need assistance leaving a building without an elevator or a person with low vision may not be able to use traditional orientation and navigation methods alone to find the emergency exits.

It is essential for all staff members to be knowledgeable about accessible evacuation routes and prepared to communicate this information effectively to others during an emergency. Does your facility have evacuation chairs, sleds, or mats? Are these devices readily accessible to staff and bystanders? Additionally, are there alternative evacuation routes or designated safe areas where individuals could await assistance?

Accessible Shelters

In emergencies, communities may provide residents with safe refuge in temporary shelters. Emergency managers and shelter operators must ensure that all sheltering programs are accessible. One way to do this is to conduct surveys of physical spaces to address barriers and ensure that the building complies with ADA standards. The Department of Justice provides an ADA Checklist for emergency shelters. Shelter staff and volunteers should maintain accessible routes, minimize protruding objects, and make modifications to shelter policies as needed. Policy adjustments might involve allowing service animals in “no pet” areas or permitting medication storage in refrigerators. Establish clear procedures for individuals to request reasonable modifications.

Tips for Accessible Emergency Responses

1. Involve the disability community in planning and implementation! Ask for feedback from disabled people to ensure that your emergency plan is accessible to people with disabilities.
2. Ensure that buildings designated as shelters are accessible prior to emergency use!
3. Do not make assumptions. Ask the person with the disability how they refer to their disability, what their accommodation needs are, and how they would like to be assisted. Follow their lead.
4. Make sure there is a way for people with disabilities to request accommodations. Appoint a person or core group of people to receive and respond to accommodation requests so that the process is efficient. Train all staff about this procedure.
5. All communication to the public must be provided in alternative formats, including American Sign Language (ASL) and captioned videos. Communication in alternative formats must be timely so that people with disabilities receive the same information at the same time as their nondisabled neighbors.
6. Use plain language in both written and verbal communication and avoid highly technical jargon.
7. Do not separate people from their service animals unless there is a direct threat to health and safety. Plan relief areas for service animals at emergency facilities, and train staff to orient people with service animals to the relief areas.
8. Provide ways to safely store medication, mobility devices, and other personal care items that are specific to the disability. Some medications require temperature-regulated storage. Power wheelchairs and electronic mobile communication devices require battery-charging stations.
9. Consider providing stress relief or quiet zones for people whose disabilities are aggravated by stress.
10. Consider creating a voluntary, confidential registry of persons with disabilities who may need individualized notification or evacuation assistance.

References