emergency preparedness for people with disabilities in canada’s north presented by marnie peters...

Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities in

Canada’s North

Presented by

Marnie PetersThe Global Alliance on Accessible

Technology and Environments (GAATES)

Northern Challenges•Extreme conditions: extreme cold, 3-5 day blizzards, flooding, forest fires, supply chain disruptions

•Winter – 24 hours of darkness

Northern Challenges

• Lack of roads, infrastructure and many fly-in only communities

• Prone to power outages• Fragile communication

system – prone to disruption and outages

Northern Challenges

•Diverse populations•13-20 Inuit & First Nations languages

•Southern solutions aren’t applicable or transferable to the north

Effective Communications

Development of formal and informal communications strategies

Use of appropriate languages and formats

Effective Communications•Working with EMOs to adopt best practices on the use of social media, SMS texting alerts, etc.

Effective Communications

Implementing accessible LED emergency alerting signage boards in remote communities

Effective Personal PlanningDevelopment of a Handbook on Emergency Planning and Preparation

Effective Personal PlanningEmergency

Preparedness checklist and one page reference checklist

Workshops on development of Kits

Effective EMO Response

Disability Awareness Training of First Responders

Involvement with Emergency practice scenarios and exercises

Effective EMO Response

Tips and Tricks for First Responders

No Friend Left Behind

Emergency Planning and Preparedness Guide for Students

Curriculum resources on disability for teachers

QUESTIONSGAATES website:www.GAATES.org

www.GlobalAccessibilityNews.com

www.Facebook.com/GAATES Twitter: _OnThinIce

gaates.marnie.peters@gmail.com