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Texas appoints community group special-needs disaster resource

Emergency Management Alert, February 21, 2008

The Texas Governor's Division of Emergency Management is tapping into existing resources to set up a plan for the care of special-needs populations during disasters.

Baptist Child and Family Services (BCFS), a human services organization based in San Antonio, already has a structure in place for establishing and staffing shelters. This year, BCFS will hold training sessions on shelter operations for healthcare workers and for Texas cities and towns. Sessions will cover staffing, equipment needs, management of patients, and other basics, and will follow National Response Plan and National Incident Management System requirements. 

"One of the greatest weaknesses exposed by the largest disaster to ever strike American soil [Hurricanes Katrina and Rita] was the lack of planning and preparedness to care for the very people who are most vulnerable," BCFS President Kevin Dinnin told The Baptist Standard News Journal this week. "Yet most organizations have been afraid to care for medical special needs evacuees and turned them away, either out of fear or lack of knowledge. BCFS was chosen to take on this task due to our past experience in caring for people considered society's most vulnerable.

Click here for stories offering detailed descriptions of how the centers were established and operated. 

Click here for the training page.

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