DABC Receives Funding from Emergency Management BC to Ensure a Functional Needs Framework for Every Community

Community Update
April 2016

DABC is thrilled to announce funding from Emergency Management BC (EMBC) to work with local authorities over the next two years in order to meet the emergency preparedness goal of the provincial government’s Accessibility 2024 initiative. The government of British Columbia has made a commitment to becoming the most inclusive province in Canada for people with disabilities by 2024. Emergency Preparedness is one of Accessibility 2024’s twelve building blocks. The Province’s laudable goal is for every BC community to have accommodated the needs of persons with disabilities in its emergency planning by 2024. The Province will measure the success of this goal by the number of community emergency response plans that comply with a Functional Needs Framework (FNF).

DABC is a leader in emergency preparedness and people with disabilities and is excited to be working with local authorities in different regions of BC to increase local level capacity to respond to the needs of community members with disabilities in emergencies and disasters.

DABC will work with local authorities to:

  • Review local community response plans
  • Provide recommendations to local authorities on how to integrate the Functional Needs Framework and identify people’s needs during an emergency
  • Provide training to local authorities that supports the Emergency Preparedness building block of Accessibility 2024

For more information, contact Karen Martin, karen@disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org

PreparedBC: Resources for People with Disabilities

The Province of BC recently released PreparedBC: Resources for People with Disabilities. This guide builds on DABC’s Emergency Preparedness work and includes our recommendations on personal emergency planning using the five categories of the functional needs, or C-MIST (Communication, Medical, Independence, Supervision and Transportation), framework. 

You can download the guide here.

Online Course on Workplace Emergency Planning Taken by Diversity of Groups

Since the BCCPD launched its new online course in May the response has been very good. We have had people register for the course from Metro Vancouver communities, the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island and the Central Okanagan. And these represent a diversity of types of businesses: disability organizations, home share providers, social services, municipalities, search and rescue, Aboriginal bands, and the manufacturing sector.

This course is for every workplace that has employees with disabilities. The course is easy to use; you can go at your own pace and receive resources and a certificate when you have completed. The course aims to provide employers and workers with practical strategies and tools for planning and provides resources to help in creating a plan that is inclusive. To take the course go to: http://emergprepcourse.bccpd.bc.ca/index.php.

We’d like to thank WorkSafe BC for funding this initiative.