Make time and room for a supported departure

Plan the whole departure

An evacuation route is only one part of leaving. Record how the household will:

1. receive and understand an alert;
2. decide when to begin the personal departure plan;
3. contact support people;
4. assist each person as they direct;
5. gather medicine, equipment, mobility aids, communication tools, and service-animal supplies;
6. leave the building if elevators, power, lighting, or the usual exit is unavailable;
7. board suitable transportation;
8. travel by a primary or alternate route; and
9. enter a destination that can meet the person's access and care needs.

Write the plan in the format each person can use. Include plain text, large type, audio, pictures, Braille, translated instructions, or another communication format as appropriate.

Keep the standing plan usable offline

Keep destinations, directions, and the people to contact together before an evacuation is likely.

1. Choose a first destination and at least one alternate.
2. Ask the host or operator whether the household may go there and which access or care needs the destination can meet. Record who confirmed the arrangement and when.
3. Save addresses, phone numbers, and directions in a form that works without a connection.
4. Agree on which contacts should hear when the household leaves, arrives, or changes plans.
5. Review the destinations, directions, and contacts when an address, household need, or road pattern changes.

A host's permission does not establish current safety, access, or availability during a particular event. A saved map may not include traffic, closures, flooding, or emergency restrictions. Current official instructions take priority.

When possible, keep an offline map and printed or written directions as complementary backups.

Record the assistance that is actually needed

Ask each person what help they may need and how it should be provided. This may include:

• an accessible alert or interpretation;
• orientation or navigation assistance;
• help with dressing, medication, equipment, or personal care;
• a specific transfer or boarding method;
• a wheelchair lift or space for a scooter;
• help carrying supplies while the person retains their mobility or communication device;
• supervision for a child or another person who cannot leave alone;
• support for cognitive, sensory, behavioral, or mental-health needs; or
• travel with a service animal.

Record what the person can do independently, what requires assistance, and what requires a trained caregiver or responder. Do not use a diagnosis as a substitute for those instructions.

Confirm people and backups

Ask named people whether they agree to help. Record:

• the task each person accepts;
• how and when they will be contacted;
• whether they can enter the building;
• where they will meet;
• what equipment or vehicle they will bring;
• what they are trained and authorized to do; and
• who takes over if they are unavailable.

Choose support people who are unlikely to face exactly the same access problem when possible. A neighbor may be the fastest first contact, while someone outside the immediate area may be a more reliable communications backup.

Local emergency-management or public-health offices may offer a voluntary evacuation-assistance registry or identify accessible transportation. Enrollment does not replace the household plan, and availability varies. Record the program, confirmation date, and instructions if the person chooses to enroll.

Confirm accessible transportation

Contact the paratransit provider, local government, emergency manager, private transport provider, or agreed driver before an emergency and ask:

• who provides emergency transportation;
• how a ride is requested or activated;
• whether advance registration is required;
• whether the vehicle can carry the person, mobility aid, medical equipment, service animal, supplies, and helper;
• where the pickup point is;
• how long boarding normally takes;
• what happens if roads, elevators, or communications fail; and
• what backup exists if the primary vehicle is unavailable.

Keep the transport instructions and contact numbers offline. Do not describe transportation as confirmed until the relevant provider or person has agreed to it.

Confirm destinations by capability

For each destination, confirm the capabilities the person needs. These may include:

• an accessible drop-off area, entrance, route, toilet, bathing area, sleeping area, and exit;
• effective communication and interpretation;
• space and power for equipment;
• medication refrigeration;
• a bed, cot, transfer support, or personal-care assistance;
• admission with a service animal; and
• the appropriate level of medical care.

Most people with disabilities can use general emergency shelters when access and supports are provided. A medical shelter is for people who require its higher level of care, not a default destination for disability.

Store an alternate destination and route. A destination confirmation can expire or change, so include the date, confirmer, and needs discussed.

Measure the time without rushing

Practice the departure with the person, equipment, support people, and vehicle when safe to do so. Measure separately:

• contact and response time;
• personal preparation and care;
• gathering and checking equipment and supplies;
• movement from the home to the pickup point;
• boarding and equipment securement; and
• travel to the destination under ordinary conditions.

Add a margin for degraded conditions, but do not invent one universal number. Smoke, darkness, water, ice, heat, blocked routes, unavailable elevators, traffic, and stress can each lengthen a different part of the departure.

Use the result to set a personal start trigger with the person, caregiver, clinician, and local guidance where appropriate. The purpose of the trigger is to begin early enough to complete the plan, not to predict exactly when a hazard will arrive.

When it is time to leave

1. Monitor official information in an accessible form. Begin at an official instruction or the person's earlier documented start trigger.
2. Confirm that the chosen destination, transportation, and support people are still available. Compare alternatives with current official information.
3. Check current route information and official closures when connected. Treat saved directions as a backup, not evidence that a road is open or safe.
4. Begin the supported departure early enough to complete the measured steps. Bring medicine, equipment, mobility and communication aids, care information, identification, and service-animal supplies.
5. Tell the agreed contacts where the household is going. Share only the information they need.
6. Check whether a message was sent and, when important, received. If the usual method fails, try the agreed alternative.
7. Tell the designated contacts when the household arrives or the plan changes.

If officials order immediate evacuation, leave as directed. Do not wait for the household's later trigger. If safe transport or required assistance cannot be reached and danger is immediate, call emergency services and state the person's location, communication method, mobility or medical equipment, service animal, and the assistance needed.

Do not

• Do not treat a cached route as live navigation or evidence that roads are open and safe.
• Do not treat a saved address as proof that a destination is currently available or suitable.
• Do not base the schedule on the fastest person in the household.
• Do not assume an elevator, helper, vehicle, route, or destination capability will be available.
• Do not promise that registry enrollment or utility notification guarantees rescue or priority service.
• Do not move, lift, or transfer a person without their instructions and any required training unless an immediate rescue makes that impossible.
• Do not delay an official evacuation order to finish packing or wait for a preferred helper.
• Do not assume an evacuation notice was delivered without checking the send result.
• Do not put sensitive assistance or medical details into messages unless the recipient needs them and the person has authorized sharing.

Next action

Choose a first destination and an alternate, confirm the support and transport arrangements, and agree on whom to contact. Then practice the non-driving steps from alert receipt through boarding and record the time, helpers, transport process, and destination capabilities.