Special Needs Registry
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at 10:26AM Hurricane season officially started for the Atlantic Ocean on June 1st. It's a time when many of us living in Coastal Georgia (and other parts of the Atlantic coast of the U.S.) give at least passing thought to our preparedness planning.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that families who have children (or other loved ones) with special needs must do a special type of estate planning to be sure that those loved ones are protected. Disaster planning is no different.
Your local emergency management agency or your local health department likely have a special needs registry available.
What is a special needs registry?
In the words of our local health department:
The registry is for that population requiring specialized assistance in meeting daily needs and may require special assistance during emergency situations. Individuals may need specially trained health care providers, special facilities equipped to meet their needs, and specialized vehicles and equipment for transport.
If you are accepted into the Special Needs Program and a mandatory evacuation order is about to happen, you will be advised by the health department staff to prepare for evacuation.
This registry is provided to local emergency management agencies. In an actual emergency, response agencies will try to provide assistance, but this cannot be guaranteed.
The registry is truly a last resort, but if a hurricane [or other disaster] is threatening our area, it is important we know where some of our most vulnerable residents are so we can try to help them evacuate.
What do I do now?
If you live in the Coastal Georgia area, you'll find information about the special needs registry here.
If you live elsewhere and need to know more, please use the links above (or a simple Google search) to find your local special needs registry.
Pay careful attention to the actions recommended by the people running your local special needs registry. Do it now. By the time a hurricane (or other disaster situation) is bearing down on you - it may be too late.