Inclusion Daily Express -- Report: Poor Planning, Communication And Coordination Made Katrina A Greater Disaster

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Report: Poor Planning, Communication And Coordination Made Katrina A Greater Disaster
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
February 26, 2007

LAWRENCE, KANSAS--Ineffective planning, poor communication, and a lack of coordination between people with disabilities, centers for independent living, and emergency management officials led to a high number of preventable fatalities during and after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

That is the conclusion drawn from research conducted by the Research and Training Center on Independent Living in the states that were affected by the storm.

In a 63-page report, RTCIL submitted a list of nine recommendations for emergency planners, including putting statewide independent living councils in leadership roles for disaster planning; developing and implementing a curriculum on how to create organizational and personal disaster response plans; and establishing ways to identify people with disabilities who need of additional services in the event of a disaster, along with ways to link them to the services that can either evacuate them or help them "shelter in place."

Data collected last February showed that nearly 70 percent of the storm's victims whose bodies had been identified were 61 years of age or older, while nearly 20 percent of those who died in the New Orleans area alone during and after the hurricane were in nursing homes or hospitals at the time.

While all nursing facilities were supposed to have evacuation plans in place, just 21 percent did evacuate before the storm.

While some people with disabilities drowned in their wheelchairs or beds, many others perished in the aftermath of the storm because of the heat and a lack of medical supplies and such things as generators to operate ventilators and other equipment.

Related:
"Assessing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Persons with Disabilities" (RTCIL)
http://www.rtcil.org/products/NIDRR_FinalKatrinaReport.pdf
"People With Disabilities Among Hardest Hit By Hurricanes Katrina & Rita" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/05/katrina.htm

Copyright © 2007 Inonit Publishing
Please do not reprint, forward, or post without permission.

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