Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories on being prepared for natural disasters.

While every household should have at least an emergency plan and basic emergency kit in the event of a natural disaster, households with members that are elderly or have disabilities will need a little more to ensure everyone is taken care of until the emergency has passed.

According to Peggy Clark, director, Columbiana EMA (Emergency Management Agency), the elderly and those with disabilities are not going to be as comfortable outside of their home as someone who doesn’t have any special needs.

“People with disabilities may have special medical equipment that they need to get around, or maybe they have a special wheel chair, walker or bed that they sleep in,” Clark said. “What happens if they have to leave their home and there might be a time gap between whenever they have to leave and that special piece of equipment can be found for them. “

Clark also noted that if the special equipment is something specific to the individual and can’t be replaced by just going to a regular home health agency of pharmacy, they would end up going without until such a time the device could safely be obtained.

Extra planning should go into preparing for an emergency for those who have needs outside of the ordinary to make sure in the event of an emergency their needs are met and they are taken care of.

A plan should be in place for households with a member on oxygen in the event of a power outage.

When a household member gets oxygen from a device powered by electricity and the power is off for six to eight hours or longer, a backup plan to provide them that life sustaining oxygen could be the difference in life or death.

According to Clark, in these cases, an emergency oxygen supply such as a device that is battery powered along with a regular bottle of oxygen that doesn’t require a machine to operate should be considered.

According to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), in addition to the basics, an emergency kit for those with additional needs should also include: extra medication and medical supplies (enough for a week), a copy of prescriptions as well as dosage and treatment information.

FEMA also suggest having on hand and ready to grab and go, eyeglasses, hearing aids, hearing aid batteries, wheelchair battery and oxygen. These are items there should be extra of in the home.

Additionally, FEMA notes that copies of medical insurance, Medicaid and Medicare cards are part of that kit along with copies of emergency documents such as: wills, living wills, power of attorney, deeds, social security numbers and a list containing the names and numbers of emergency contacts, support personnel and health care providers.

These items should be packed in a waterproof container or fireproof safe box and be readily accessible in case of a need to grab and go evacuation.

FEMA suggests that those who are not able to obtain extra medication to keep in the emergency kit talk to the pharmacist or their doctor ahead of time about what they should do to prepare for an emergency situation.

For those who undergo routine treatments administered by a clinic or hospital, or home health services FEMA advises talking to their provider about their emergency plans and work to identify back-up service providers.

Clark suggests that those with elderly family members that live alone go and help them develop emergency, communications and evacuations plans and help them assemble their emergency kit to ensure that they are prepared as well.

Clark also noted that those who live outside Columbiana County but have elderly relatives residing in the county can sign up for WENS (Columbiana County Wireless Emergency Alerts) using their relative’s address so they receive emergency notifications and public safety messages on their mobile phone that may impact their family members.

Family members can also contact their local EMA to see if they or any other local agencies maintain a register of elderly or disabled residents so they can be located and assisted quickly in an emergency.

For additional information on being prepared check out https://www.ready.gov/september

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