Emergencies Should Not Come Down to Survival of the Fittest

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Emily Ladau

Emergencies Should Not Come Down to Survival of the Fittest for the Disability Community

As I read about the death of Barbara McWilliams, I felt chills cut through to my bones. Barbara was a woman who lived in California, who had multiple sclerosis, who died because emergency workers claimed “they did not have the time to assist” her in evacuating her home as it was engulfed in the flames of a wildfire. I didn’t know Barbara, but I mourn her passing deeply. And there is one thing about her that I know for sure: her death, in such a way, should not have happened.

This kind of tragedy must be a wake up call to the disability community on the importance of being prepared for emergencies. September was National Preparedness Month, and I was glad to see that the Federal Emergency Management Agency placed some focus on the disability community, but doesn’t it make you wonder what could happen in the other 11 months of the year if a disabled person died due to a natural disaster during a month emphasizing preparedness? Every time I watch the news, I am reminded of all the ways there’s always a chance that it could be my loved ones with disabilities or me who find ourselves caught in a dangerous situation.

I’ve long had a fear of being left behind in emergencies. Throughout high school and college, the sound of a fire alarm was one of my biggest sources of dread. Sometimes, my high school teachers would receive warning that a fire drill was happening and if I was on the 2nd or 3rd floor, I’d be told to wait in the classroom while everyone else evacuated since it was “just a drill.” On occasions when the fire alarm would go off without warning, I’d panic. Each time I was made to wait inside, it made me feel like no one actually cared what would happen to me in a real emergency. And when I requested that emergency evacuation plans be set in place for me, the proposed plan was, “let’s tell strong male teachers your class schedule so they can come rescue you if something happens.” Seriously.

In college, my parents and I insisted my dorm be on the first floor of my residence hall so I wouldn’t have to contend with the elevator. However, my college was huge compared to my high school, even though I chose a small campus. This made emergency planning even more difficult, and so my main option was to go to designated areas of refuge. The Disability Support Services office supposedly had set plans in place, but I worried that in a real emergency, follow-through could be an issue. It’s a scary thing, how often someone’s life might end up in the hands of other people.

When every elevator provides the friendly reminder, “In case of emergency, use stairs,” how can disabled people feel safe? A few years ago, I tried to ease my worries a bit by going to a meeting at my local Independent Living Center about registering with the emergency system in my county for disabled people. My mom and I, both wheelchair users, signed up right away. But these kinds of systems can only work if plans are put in place, and if emergency responders actually adhere to the plans that are put in place. A little extra assistance can save a life. A little extra assistance could have saved Barbara McWilliams’s life.

That being said, I want the disability community to remember that it’s also up to us and our families to do our best in emergency planning. The importance of preparedness cannot be understated. We can advocate and plan and practice for emergencies before it’s too late.

But even the most prepared among us may still need assistance. Especially when response teams have advance notice that someone with a disability could be at risk, they have an opportunity to make the difference between life and death. Safety of disabled people in emergency situations is a serious issue, and it needs to be treated as more than just survival of the fittest. I’m calling on emergency responders and the disability community to join together and work towards being more prepared.

Emily Ladau is a writer and disability rights activist whose passion is to harness the powers of language and social media as tools for people to become informed and engaged social justice advocates. She is the owner of Social Justice Media Services, which provides communications, outreach, and social media management services for disability-related organizations. Emily also maintains a blog, Words I Wheel By, as a platform to address discrimination and to encourage people to understand the experience of having a disability in more positive, accepting, and supportive ways. You’re welcome to connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.