Planning for Pets & Animals

• Be sure to make provisions for medications that require refrigeration. • Keep a list of the type and model numbers of the medical devices you require. • Wear medical alert tags or bracelets to identify your allergies. Planning considerations for sheltering in place: • Choose a room that is innermost in your house with the least number of windows. • Plan an area for service animals/pets to relieve themselves. • Check for obstacles in your residence that could block your escape path or access during a disaster. • Prepare for scheduled or unpredictable power outages if you are on electric powered life support systems. Some utility providers, including Colorado

Springs Utilities, can provide advance notice for planned outages. In Colorado Springs, call (719) 448-4800 to ask about the Life Support Notification

Program. Medications and medical supplies: • Pack a 3-day supply of medications if you take medicine or use a medical treatment. If possible, have up to 2 weeks supplies available. • Make a list of prescription medicines including dosage, treatment, and allergy information. • Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about what else you need to prepare. • Talk to your service providers about their emergency plans if you undergo routine treatments administered by a clinic or hospital, or if you receive regular services such as home health care, treatment, or transportation. Work with the providers to identify back-up services and incorporate them into your personal support network. • Consider other personal needs such as eyeglasses, hearing aids and batteries, wheelchair batteries, communication devices, and oxygen. Emergency documents: • Have copies of your medical insurance and/or

Medicare/Medicaid cards readily available. • Keep a list of the style and serial number of medical devices or other life-sustaining devices and include copies of the owner’s manual. • Include the names and contact information of your support network, as well as your medical providers in each kit. • Create a communication card so the emergency responders know the best way to communicate with you if you have a disability that might affect your ability to communicate your needs. • Make sure that a friend or family member has copies of the documents. • Keep the documents in a waterproof container for quick and easy access or saved on a flash drive or other portable memory storage. Additional resources for people with disabilities and access and functional needs: • The Independence Center in Colorado Springs provides emergency preparedness and independent living resources, and publishes a preparedness guide for people with disabilities, www.theindependencecenter.org • The Rocky Mountain ADA Center in Colorado Springs provides emergency preparedness resources at www.rockymountainada.org

Preparing for pets and other animals

As you make supply kits and emergency/evacuation plans for your household, be sure to make plans for your pets, service animals, or livestock. Many emergency shelters do not allow pets other than service animals. In the Pikes Peak Region, efforts are made to provide pet emergency shelters located close to human emergency shelters whenever possible. Emergency shelters for large animals and small livestock may also be established as needed at locations appropriate for non-pet species. If you are unable to evacuate your animals, post a visible advisory on the front door so emergency workers will know there is a pet inside. Inside your residence, post your contact information and evacuation destination in a prominent place, such as the refrigerator. Be sure that each animal has at least a 3-day supply of food, water, and other essentials. Make all possible preparedness efforts for pets and livestock prior to an emergency, to prevent being faced with the difficult decision to leave them behind. Advance planning and acting early in an evacuation will help ensure your animals survive disaster.

People who use service animals Service animals are dogs or miniature horses trained to aid an individual with a disability or access and functional need. If they meet this definition, these animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government. Pet preparedness is a critical component of an emergency plan for users of service animals. Plans should address the health, welfare, and safety of the service animal, as well as ways to have the service animal assist the individual in emergencies.

Additional resources for animals: • See pages 54-55 for pet evacuation preparedness. • More information pet preparedness is available from the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region at hsppr.org/resources/disaster-preparedness/

• Livestock preparedness checklists and links available from the Colorado State University

Extension Service in the fact sheet called “Caring for Livestock Before a Disaster” publication 1.814 at extension.colostate.edu