Barriers to Disaster Preparedness among Medical Special Needs Populations

Abstract

A medical special needs (MSN) assessment was conducted among 3088 respondents in a hurricane prone area. The sample was female (51.7%), Hispanic (92.9%), aged >45 years (51%), not insured for health (59.2%), and with an MSN (33.2%). Barriers to preparedness were characterized for all households, including those with inhabitants reporting MSN ranging from level 0 (mild) to level 4 (most severe). Multivariable logistic regression tested associations between hurricane preparedness and barriers to evacuation by level of MSN. A significant interaction effect between number of evacuation barriers and MSN was found. Among households that reported individuals with level 0 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 18% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR = 1.18, 95% CI (1.08, 1.30)]. Among households that reported individuals with level 1 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 29% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR = 1.29, 95% CI (1.11, 1.51)]. Among households that reported individuals with level 3 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 68% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR = 1.68, 95% CI (1.21, 1.32)]. MSN alone did not explain the probability of unpreparedness, but rather MSN in the presence of barriers helped explain unpreparedness.

Factors Related to Evacuation Intentions of Power-Dependent Home Care Patients in Japan

“…Moreover, a greater likelihood of unpreparedness has been observed among patients who rely mainly on non-family members for support or face significant barriers to evacuation owing to medication or medical equipment requirements (Meyer, Vatcheva, Castellanos, & Reininger, 2015). This study found the preparation of emergency medical equipment, such as Ambu bags and foot-operated aspiration devices, to be positively associated with a favorable attitude toward evacuating.…”

Implications of the evacuation of hospitalized patients in a nuclear emergency

“…In this evacuation process, careful attention should be paid to the conditions of moving patients because their lives can easily be threatened by changes in medical circumstances. Particularly when the critical infrastructure for medical services is disrupted, evacuation of hospitalized patients with necessary medical resources will be complicated and challenging ( 17 , 18 ). The ability to provide adequate medical care for all patients throughout disruption needs to be evaluated as immediately as possible and, in case the infrastructure damage is found to be so severe that adequate care cannot be provided for the entire population of patients, the medical personnel needs to decide which patients should be prioritized for evacuation and what resources are required to ensure the adequate care for those being evacuated.…”

“…Nevertheless, the author expects that this brief report will provide some helpful insights to the stakeholders involved in the preparedness and responsiveness for nuclear emergencies, fostering discussions among them about how to take the most appropriate decisions and actions on the evacuation of all inpatients considering the principle of justification. An example of the topics to be discussed is the constant preliminary assessments of medical special need (MSN) levels of individual patients that would be effective, even for quick assessment in a nuclear emergency ( 18 ). Further investigations including the development of a more comprehensive guidance should be performed to achieve practical implementations of the presented conceptual basis while becoming acquainted with diverging perceptions and changing opinions among various stakeholders.…”

Willingness to Prepare for Disasters among Individuals with Disabilities: An Essential Component for Building Disaster Resiliency

“…Likewise, individuals with specific medical needs also exhibit lower levels of preparedness for disasters (Mann et al 2021;Stough et al 2017;Toor et al 2018). Furthermore, individuals with medical special needs are less inclined to engage in disaster preparedness efforts (Meyer et al 2015;Uscher-Pines et al 2009). Thus, disability and health conditions (X5) are associated with both disaster preparedness (X4) and willingness to prepare for disasters (X3) (Figure 1).…”