Emergency Planning for People with Disabilities
A recent drill coordinated by NJ Transit in northern New Jersey exposed the difficulties in helping people with disabilities during emergency situations. This got me to thinking that utility companies should have special provisions in their emergency plans for this segment of the population. While some utility companies probably have protocols for the disabled, my gut tells me that many do not.
How to Account for People with Disabilities into Emergency Plans
While first responders are more likely to encounter people with disabilities during emergency situations compared to utility recovery personnel, it is still important for utilities to account for their needs. For example, a deaf person could be in the proximity of a live downed wire but would not necessarily be able to follow safety instructions from dispatched workers. Or, someone in a wheelchair could fall on the street and need to be helped back into the wheelchair. Or a blind person could walk out in front of a utility truck, putting his or her safety at risk. And there are countless other examples.
The aforementioned NJ drill included 150 people as well as multiple people with disabilities, and the drill revealed problems such as an inability to understand instructions amongst the hearing impaired, and difficulties that wheelchair-bound people experienced trying to quickly exit the train, among other things.
Therefore, lineman, damage assessors, and other utility workers on the scene need to be trained to help people with disabilities when needed. It’s all about safety. For this reason, exercises and drills should have a few injects that deal with the disabled. In addition, basic guidance for helping the disabled should be incorporated into emergency plans.
The bottom line is that on-scene utility workers should have the situational awareness necessary to spot people that need assistance. If caught in an emergency, people with disabilities will often require a greater level of assistance than others, so education, training, and practice with helping them is critical.
