Educating First Responders to Provide Emergency Services to Individuals with Disabilities

Susan B. Wolf-Fordham, Janet S. Twyman, and Charles D. Hamad
University of Massachusetts Medical School

December 31, 2014

Objective Individuals with disabilities experience more negative outcomes due to natural and manmade disasters and emergencies than do people without disabilities. This vulnerability appears to be due in part to knowledge gaps among public health and safety emergency planning and response personnel (responders). We assessed the effectiveness of an online program to increase emergency responder knowledge about emergency planning and response for individuals with disabilities.

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