STRENGTHENING THE AGING NETWORKBuilding Leadership in the Long-Term Services and Supports Network

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FOR STATE AGING AND DISABILITIES

AGENCIES

Tuesday, April 12, 20113:00 – 4:00 PM EDT

Funded by

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Today’s Speakers

• Maria Greene, NASUAD Senior Consultant

• Irene Collins, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Senior Services

• Mike Cheek, NASUAD Senior Director

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Agenda

• Real World Impacts on Older Adults and People with Disabilities

• State Agency Planning Core Elements and Steps

• Alabama’s Experiences and Plan• Future for Emergency Preparedness• Resources • Open Discussion

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Japan is a Clear Reminder of Why Emergency Preparedness is Critical

The 3/11/11 earthquake and resulting 20 ft high tsunami in northern Japan was the 5th most powerful earthquake in the world since 1900.

The most dangerous threats before and after the disasters were for the elderly and people with disabilities.

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Limitations in ADLs and IADLs Make Evacuation More Challenging

• The northern towns of Japan were increasingly inhabited by older citizens. Lists of known missing and dead ……people in their 80s,90s,100s.

• They were not agile enough to take advantage of the 20-30 minutes warning of the coming tsunami.

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Special Accommodations and Considerations are Needed in Shelters

• Ms. Abe (80) and her 16 yrs old grandson were found 9 days after the earthquake.

• The greatest danger for the elderly living in shelters is an outbreak of influenza

• Persons with disabilities may need an array of accessibility accommodations

Accommodation could include: 1. Accessible or assistance with use of

restrooms (example of ADL)2. Vision or hearing impairment

accommodations for important announcements

3. Assistance with understanding safety requirements such as wearing a mask (example of an IADL) 6

United States has Recent Experiences of its Own

Think back to 2005 ….Hurricane Katrina (category 3) floods the southeastern U.S.

Of the nearly 1,000 LA residents who died in Hurricane Katrina, half were 75 or older

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KEY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CONSIDERATIONS

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Alabama has Taken Aggressive Steps to Develop a Response Plan

Irene Collins, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Senior Services

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Planning and Coordination Must Happen at the State and Local Levels

• SA coordinates with state Emergency Management Agency (EMA)

• AAAs coordinate with SA and regional/local EMAs

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State Aging and Disability Agencies Play Key Roles After the Event

• SAs & AAAs are not 1st responders but are often 2nd responders

• Core SA and AAA functions– Meals– Senior Centers– Shelters– Administrative operations in disaster

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Outside Assistance Plays a Critical Role and Should be Built into the Plan

• State & Federal declarations of disaster brings additional assistance

• What to expect from AoA• Reporting requirements• Accepting assistance from faith

communities, non-profits, et al

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Rebuilding the LTSS Network is Composed of Several Steps

• Delivering ongoing assistance to individuals impacted

• Assistance for communities• Building senior centers and/or

multipurpose community centers• Rebuilding provider capacity

– Residential– Personal Care– Nutrition 13

SECTION 1915 WAIVER OPTIONS

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Appendix K is an Optional Stand Alone Waiver Amendment

• Used by states to advise CMS of changes made to waiver operations or to amend its approved waiver

• May be submitted retroactively to CMS • If permanent changes are included in

Appendix K, such changes must be reflected in a later amendment to other sections of the wavier

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Appendix K may be one Part of a Series of Changes

• States may need a variety of Medicaid changes to address the emergency outside of the scope of the Section 1915(c)– Example: Administrative claiming to set up

a hotline• Appendix K should not supplant a state’s

comprehensive plan for emergency preparedness

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FUTURE RESOURCES

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The Future for Emergency Preparedness

The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a digital format for exchanging emergency alerts that will allow a consistent alert message to be disseminated simultaneously over many different communications systems

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The Future for Emergency Preparedness

The Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) is one of the major components of the IPAWS. The CMAS will provide an interface to cellular mobile service providers for delivery of critical alert information to cellular phones in a danger zone

Coming as early as 2011

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The Future for Emergency Preparedness

The IPAWS wireless initiative will ensure that:CMAS may accept messages from authorized federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local officials and distribute them to participating Commercial Mobile Service Providers for distribution to the public

CMAS will facilitate the dissemination of three types of alerts – Presidential Alerts– Imminent Threat Alerts– America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response

(AMBER) Alerts

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RESOURCES

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Federal Emergency Management Administration • General Resources

– www.fema.gov/– www.ready.gov/america/

• FEMA Office of Disability Integration & Coordination– http://www.fema.gov/about/odic/

• FEMA Office of Integrated Public Alert Warning System– www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/

• Federal Disabilities Resources Website– www.disability.gov/emergency_preparedness

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Administration on Aging (AoA) • Emergency Assistance Guide 2006

Information and material in this Guide are based a number of recent experiences faced by State and Area Agencies on Aging and aging services providers….

• Disaster Preparedness ManualThis manual is a good resource for those interested in more basic information on emergency/disaster preparation and assistance.

• Just in Case: Emergency Readiness for Older Adults and Caregivers.…. information to help older adults prepare for a disaster/emergency. It includes helpful checklists, contact lists, and a medication list……

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Other AoA Resources• Disaster Preparedness: Home and Community-Based Services for

People With Dementia and Their CaregiversThis toolkit outlines actions.... informed decisions about the special needs of people with dementia at a time of emergency or disaster.

• A comprehensive set of disaster and emergency preparedness and response resources….. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at http://www.hhs.gov/disasters.

• Heat Stress and the ElderlyPersons aged 65 and older are more prone to heat stress… link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Emergency Readiness and ResponseSummary of key findings from the 2008 survey focused on the emergency planning and disaster relief activities of AAAs.

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Emergency Preparedness

Open Discussion

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Next “Just the Basics” Call

• Managing Change – Service Trends – Participant Direction– Medicaid Managed Long-Term Care– Rebalancing

Thursday, April 14, 3PM – 4PM EST

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