2013-06-26, Committee on People with Disabilities, Minutes

Home

it was designed and built to a certain integrity standard that would provide better than staying-at-home opportunities for people. So, if you’re in a home built probably prior to 1980’s, it might be advantageous to go to something like this rather than try to ride it out at home if your home wasn’t built to the current building code standards. The State Civil Defense website has a listing of all the shelters on the island. It is also identified by special needs and access as well as the pet shelters. The schools have partnered with State Civil Defense because the school has facilities that have already been set up for access accommodations. Later on this month, the Disabilities and Communication Access Board is going to provide training to our CERT, Community Emergency Response Team personnel and some of the other agencies to go out and survey the facilities to identify what might be some access corrections that need to be made. So if anyone in the committee would want to participate in that training the DCAB office is hoping to create a cadre of volunteers. It is primarily to help the DAG’s office with identifying what they can do to improve access and accommodations. Red Cross is a great partner or the leading primary shelter management organization. We open up the shelter and they partnership with Department of Health to provide the assistance and staff to support the management that provides the sheltering of people. It is basically a place to stay, a parking space in a facility. There won’t be blankets and pillows, cots, water and food, at least not for the initial opening of the shelter. But it’s identifying what you’re vulnerable to and how you can prepare yourself and your family with a kit to take with you, (food, water, medications) and what basic provisions you’ll need as well as those items that will be necessary to host an event for recovery, like your insurance documents, forms and materials that are irreplaceable and be critical in the recovery process. We do partner with many agencies. Civil Defense is a staff of just seven, so we don’t manage the incidents. We help to coordinate the response to these incidents with the different agencies and departments – as I mentioned Red Cross, Department of Health, Public Works, Office of Aging. So all these agencies show up at the Civil Defense Emergency Operation Center when there is a disaster. It’s a team effort in responding to the emergency and it’s that collaborative process where someone needs assistance, it’s reaching out to that service provider and connecting the dots. It was suggested doing a local PBS monthly show advising people what needs to D. Oliveira be done in an emergency. stated that they have done one broadcast with Kimo Alameida but feels more can be done as far as education. We have a hazard mitigation plan for the island, and for each community in that plan, we’ve identified the hazards that community is vulnerable to. J. Souza stated that he is a little concerned. Speaking for the deaf community, we definitely have some special needs and they involve communication. About nine years ago we met with Troy Kindred. We gave him a list of recommendations as far as communicating with deaf people. I’m curious if you still have that list, and if those names have been acted upon. 3