News from AAHD
Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities
Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma have highlighted the gaps in our current relief systems, especially for people with disabilities. AAHD continues to support national efforts to both help people with disabilities recover from these recent storms and plan for future emergencies of all kinds.
AAHD co-chairs the National Consortium on Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities with our colleagues at the Research Training Center on Independent Living at the University of Kansas and the Center for Development and Disability at the University of New Mexico. AAHD also serves on the federal Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC) Private Sector Subcommittee. This role gives the association a voice with which to speak out to the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and other federal agencies about the need for effective emergency planning, preparations and response for people with disabilities.
Plans are underway for AAHD and its colleagues to launch a National Task Force on Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness in Washington, DC. The task force will focus on information dissemination and collaboration among national disability organizations.
AAHD has been invited to participate in a consensus conference in December sponsored by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. The conference will be at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC, and is being funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). AAHD’s Annotated Bibliography on Emergency Preparedness and Response for People with Disabilities will be included in the briefing materials distributed to participants.
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