Does PAS figure into emergency preparedness plans?

In the aftermath of disasters and emergencies such as the California wild fires and hurricane Katrina, local, regional, state, and national emergency plans have been revised and updated. While there has been some effort to include the needs of people with disabilities in the plans, it is unclear the extent to which personal assistance services (PAS) have been included. Anecdotal evidence from hurricane Katrina showed that when some people with disabilities who lived independently but needed PAS were evacuated, the evacuation destination was unprepared to provide PAS with the result being people were unnecessarily institutionalized. So the need to include PAS in emergency planning is clear. This session will review the literature and programs that were created over the last 5 years to determine if personal assistance services (PAS) for people with disabilities is taken into account in emergency plans. The session will present: 1. A critical analysis regarding what is available; 2. Key components important for emergency PAS; and 3. An analysis of the usability of these strategies. Do new plans and programs take PAS into account, or will the next emergency result in the same issues for people with disabilities who need PAS?