By Jim House, Disability/AFN Integration Manager, CIEP

The Coalition on Inclusive Emergency Planning (CIEP) is now documented as a supporting partner in two important plans recently promulgated and filed with the Washington Emergency Management Division (EMD). In both plans, CIEP will provide Access and Functional Needs (AFN) support as part of the response.

The first plan is the ESF 6 Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Temporary Housing and Human Services. EMD implements this supporting annex of the statewide Comprehensive Emergency Management when there are wildfires, floods, earthquakes or other significant disasters. CIEP will be called on to provide support to survivors in evacuation shelters, do mass care activities such as screening for individuals with AFN and connect them with appropriate community resources to help them recover.

Next is the Washington State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP) 2.0. This is activated when the U.S. State Department calls American citizens who are currently abroad to come back home due to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, civil unrest, war or other major events in the foreign country. These citizens and their families would be repatriating through designated ports of entry, such as SeaTac Airport or Boeing Field in Seattle for resettlement in Washington or other places in the U.S.  During the second phase of planning, CIEP will help develop standard operating procedures that spell out specific activities of the SERP plan for supporting organizations under the direction of the Department of Social and Health Services.

CIEP is available to review your community’s emergency plans to ensure that people with disabilities and other Access and Function Needs are covered before, during and after disasters. Over the years, CIEP has reviewed plans developed by state agencies and local counties with a focus on accessible emergency services.

Washington state has plans for various types of emergencies which are updated regularly and listed on EMD’s web page.