Photo: Marianne Bos | Unsplash
After a natural disaster, disabled people have additional barriers to accessing medical care and maintaining medical equipment. Disabled people and low-income communities are hit the hardest and face higher mortality rates in these kinds of emergencies, and they also take longer to recover. With climate-related crises growing worse, a comprehensive disability-led approach to disaster relief is more important than ever. For example, disabled people and people of color are more vulnerable to extreme heat, and they face heightened barriers in escaping this heat. To address barriers and lack of preparedness for assisting disabled Americans during extreme weather and other crises, The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, coordinates efforts with disability-led organizations and works to advocate for policy change at a federal level. “We do everything from technical assistance with state [and] local governments to partnerships with FEMA, to our disability and disaster hotline, to training and community-specific organizations in a one-on-one type of work services,”
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