Delaware creates database to help people with disabilities during emergencies

From Delaware News:

Emergency services departments in Delaware County soon will have the means to know the risks and circumstances faced by all individuals with special needs within county borders.

Officials throughout the county are putting the finishing touches on a database that will link police, fire and EMS departments for the purpose of being prepared for any situations that might arise with disabled people in Delaware County.

Liberty Township Fire Capt. William Piwtorak gave a presentation to the Liberty Township Board of Trustees on the project at the board's meeting Monday, Dec. 7.

There are a number of children and adults with special needs and rare disorders within the township. To ensure proper care is taken in emergency response, the township has had a special-needs registry since 2004.

However, if another agency responds to a Liberty Township emergency under one of the township's mutual aid agreements, that agency has no access to the township's information on those individuals, Piwtorak said.

The database will fix that problem, he said.

To enter it, residents will fill out a form at the planned project Web site, which is delcospecialneeds.com, then send an e-mail with the information. The e-mail will come to Piwtorak, who is spearheading the project, and he will get the information to the relevant agencies.

"We have partners in every jurisdiction in the county," he said.

The Web site is not yet operational.

E-mail is the only way residents will be able to register, Piwtorak said, but an alternative will be worked out for people who do not have personal e-mail accounts.

Next, officials will conduct a home visit with the resident to talk about the relevant disorder(s) and to identify household safety risks.

Residents will be able to log onto the Web site and change their registration information at any time, Piwtorak said.

Officials will be able to search the database by name, address, phone number, city or ZIP code, and also will be able to search by categorized special needs -- for instance, if one area is struck by a power outage, emergency services personnel will be able to immediately determine where any residents dependent on ventilators are located.

One particular problem sometimes faced by emergency services is a situation in which a disabled person cannot easily answer his or her door, making entry difficult for responders. One way to counteract that problem without forcing entry and potentially damaging the house is with a Knox Box -- a locked box containing a house key that can be accessed only by a special key carried by emergency personnel.

A $4,625 grant from the Community Foundation of Delaware County will pay for about 25 such boxes, Piwtorak said.

Officials working on the database -- a process of about a year and a half -- studied similar programs in other states to make sure best practices are used, Piwtorak said. They will get in touch with relevant experts on rare diseases and disorders to better understand how to deal with them, he said.

The hope is that the database will be rolled out soon.

"Our goal is Jan. 1," said Piwtorak.

There has been a good degree of interest in donations to the project, Piwtorak said. Liberty Township Fiscal Officer Mark Gerber is working to help create a fund for donations to the project, said township Fire Chief Tim Jensen.

Participating emergency services agencies will pay for their shares of the system out of their own budgets, Piwtorak said.