Get to Know Your Community
To prepare for a possible emergency, get acquainted with your local police or sheriff‘s department, fire department and emergency medical service. Visit a fire station with your loved one and/or ask for someone to come to your home. Have a firefighter dress out so your child can see what full gear looks like. (It can look scary in an emergency.) Ask the fire and police departments to inspect your home and suggest safeguards. Wherever you meet, introduce your loved one and talk openly about the risks you believe he or she faces. Just having public safety agencies know where you live could be helpful in an emergency.
Contact your community‘s 911 center. It may have the capability of documenting that someone with a disability lives at your home.
It‘s a good idea to acquaint neighbors with your loved one‘s tendencies, especially if wandering off is one of them. Some families prepare flyers with a photo, description, emergency contact information, and details like what may upset, and calm, the individual. If your loved one has odd behaviors in stores, talk to employees where you regularly shop. Tell them about autism and the potential behaviors. If you are open and positive, you will probably find that people want to help.
Call SCAS to see how you can help train emergency responders about autism. Call soon!
The Next Of Kin Registry (NOKR) is an emergency contact system to help if you or your family member is missing, injured or deceased. NOKR provides the public a free proactive service to store emergency contacts, next of kin and vital medical information that would be critical to emergency response agencies. Stored information is only accessible via a secure area that is only accessible by emergency public trust agencies that have registered with NOKR. Register with the Next Of Kin Registry (NOKR).
County Emergency Management Agencies. This list can povide contacts for county 911 centers. If you live in a municipality, you may want to check the web for a city‘s website which may list an emergency 911 coordinator. SCAS cannot find a source listing for all of the state‘s municipalities emergency contacts.
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