Experts: change in thinking needed for inclusive disaster management

Today one of the Presidency’s official events - the two-day Workshop on the needs of persons with disabilities throughout the disaster management cycle was concluded by agreeing that during disasters the needs of persons with disabilities are only partly considered and solutions must be found for improvement of this situation.

Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Latvia, Evika Silina, stressed: "The most vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities during disasters are most affected. Therefore it is significant to ensure better understanding of the needs of persons with disabilities and to evaluate all the possible measures that could be undertaken to reduce the negative consequences in case of disasters. I believe that the outcome of this workshop will be a solid ground for further EU political guidance for disability inclusive disaster management".

The Minister for Welfare Uldis Augulis pointed out that: “The Latvian Presidency will focus particularly on the disability policy. Until now, the issues related to persons with disability within the context of the disaster management were reviewed and analysed insufficiently, in particular, in Latvia.

We experience storms, snow storms, floods and fires every year and persons with disability are especially vulnerable.

One of the reasons for this is the lack of knowledge of persons themselves and their relatives about correct actions to save oneself and one’s sick relatives in such situations."

The basis of the solution is to shift the thinking in different management levels. At this time the civil protection plans, evacuation plans, early warning systems are made considering that citizens can see, hear and move. But as Kjell Larson from Swedish Civil Protection Agency noted:

One out of six people are disabled in Europe, but we really don't see their needs.

To increase the understanding of civil protection specialists about the needs of persons with disabilities during disasters, the cooperation between these two sides needs to be strengthened at regional and national level. The result of such cooperation could be improvement of civil protection plans by including measures that need to be taken for identifying and implementing the needs of persons with disabilities. Armando V. Barrios said that: „Persons with disabilities must be considered equals in emergency planning. 

One of the best practices for cooperation in disability inclusive disaster management was the typhoon Haiyan disaster, when a non-governmental organization responded by setting up disability focal points to link persons to services, by mapping location of persons, their needs and the existing services, thus assisting local emergency management authorities.

Informing and educating has a great importance in reducing the negative consequences of disasters. In this field it is important to remember, that persons with disabilities can not obtain the information in a usual way - by reading, hearing or seeing it, therefore rescue services and other institutions concerned should provide adjusted options for informing in audio, easy to read format or using sign language. A great contribution in the availability of information can be done by innovations and new technological solutions in the work of services. There was also the newest technology exhibition to provide information and practical showing of solutions that could be implemented.

During the workshop experts concluded that possibilities for quick rescuing during disasters is reduced for persons with disabilities because rescue services lack specific knowledge for communicating, for example, by using sign language. There is also the need for suitable rescue devices and a special rescuer instruction for such situations when persons with disabilities need rescuing.

After the workshop, the insights, recommendations and problems that have been identified will be gathered and the EU Council Conclusions project will be drafted, and discussions will be provided in the Councils Civil Protection Work Group (PROCIV). The aim of the Latvian Presidency is to adopt the Council Conclusions before the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which will take place in Japan, Sendai on 14-18 March.