Wondering what to do during emergencies and how to handle them effectively? We’re all about preparedness, which is why we’ve introduced Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) and recently conducted a workshop with our Representative Advocacy team.

In this section, let’s dive into some essential insights regarding people with disabilities and their readiness for emergencies:

1. An estimated 1.3 billion people – or 1 in 6 people worldwide – experience significant disability; 71% of persons with disabilities do not have an individual disaster preparedness plan (UNDRR. 2023).
2. 13% of people with disabilities have no one to help them to evacuate (UNDRR. 2013).
3. About 85% of persons living with disabilities have not participated in community disaster management and risk reduction processes in their community (UNDRR. 2013).
4. Only 20% of persons with disabilities say they would be capable of evacuating immediately in the event of a sudden disaster. (UNDRR. 2013).

P-CEP is a person-centred method of disaster planning co-designed by vulnerable communities in conjunction with researchers from the University of Sydney for vulnerable communities such as people with disabilities, the elderly, people with chronic health conditions and people living with mental health conditions.

P-CEP is a guide that assists people who require support in their everyday lives to identify their strengths and where they would need support during an emergency and develop a plan with their circle of support (family/ service providers/etc.)

In the workshop, our dedicated team, along with participants, delved into the various steps outlined in the toolkit:

1. Identify your strengths and support needs in everyday life.
2. Know your level of emergency preparedness and learn about your disaster risk.
3. Plan for how you will manage your support needs in an emergency.
4. Communicate the plan with the people in your support network and address gaps through collaboration.

Remember, preparedness is an ongoing process that should be constantly revisited, especially when circumstances change. Additionally, our team shared five critical steps for Emergency Preparedness:

1. Know your local hazard risk.
2. Make a plan.
   1. Get yourself organised.
   2. Put together an emergency kit.
   3. Pack things you need to have with you and put everything in a waterproof container.
   4. Write down your plan.
   5. Share your plan with others.
   6. Review or practice your plan (annually or when life circumstances change).
3. Get your home ready.
4. Be aware.
5. Look out for each other.

We’ve included the informative workshop within this post, and we hope you find it valuable. You can also check out SCIA’s YouTube channel for more content like this.

The workshop on Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) will continue, covering the following topics:

1. Identifying disaster risks in Australia.
2. Assessing your level of emergency preparedness.
3. Understanding your unique disaster risk.
4. Locating sources for emergency information.
5. Learning about emergency services and their roles.
6. Recognising the government’s role in disaster risk management.
7. Your responsibilities before, during, and after a disaster.