The lecture for today was about the emergency preparedness for people with disabilities. Dr. Bryen pointed out that this is an important issue for Guam because it has had a lot of natural disasters and some man made disasters as well. She pointed out that it was only after Katrina did political action come into play for preparedness against such types of disasters. One of the discussions that we started out with was whether or not we purchased extra provisions, arranged for a place to meet in an emergency, and other types of measures. Dr. Bryen was discussing about how planning is an important stop for people with disabilities. Developing accessible shelters is even a requirement under the American Disabilities Act. Other things that should and have to be provided was sheltering which means foods, grooming, medical attention, and communication. One of the most important issues to recognize was replacing lost or destroyed assistive technology of those that need it.
The first step that was pointed out on being prepared is to be informed. So we were shown an eight minute video about preparedness for people with disabilities. It talked about taking the necessary steps is taking care of those with disabilities. It showed people who are caretakers of those with disabilities talking about what steps to take in case of an emergency with those that have disabilities. The video also talked about how practicing is just as important as any step in preparing for a natural or man made disaster. What was brought up as well was disaster preparedness for those with limited speech. I thought that it was really interesting and necessary to go through the check list that was shown.Again, it is not only our responsibility to make sure that we as a community should prepare for natural or man made disasters but I believe that it is also our responsibility as a community to help assure that those with disabilities are taken care of.
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