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The "Ready Now" Public Awareness Campaign

In case you missed it: September 2024 was Emergency Preparedness month! At CIDE, we partnered with the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council on “Ready Now” – a Public Awareness Campaign to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities be better prepared for emergencies. Every day from August 25th-September 30th, ambassadors with intellectual and developmental disabilities along with individuals from various disability organizations created a different video suggestion to help everyone to be Ready Now for any emergency situations. Our ambassadors covered the elements of CMIST, a framework for whole community inclusion: communication needs, maintaining health, independence, safety and supports, and transportation. viewers can learn how to text 911 and enter emergency messages into their phones, pack go kits for different situations, have plans for their medicine, devices, and service animals, and so much more! Video messages are fully captioned and available in English and Spanish, with sign language interpretation soon to come. If you missed them, you can catch up on our Facebook, Youtube, or Instagram

Surviving in Place: A Medicaid Collaboration

September also marked the conclusion of our Surviving in Place Program, a collaboration with Colorado's Office of Health Care Policy and Finance. We are proud to report that over the past eighteen months, we have distributed backup battery systems to over 1700 Colorado Medicaid Members so that they can keep their devices running in case of a power outage. We also distributed 1000 Emergency Go Kits to Colorado Medicaid Members so they can be ready to evacuate in case of an emergency. The batteries were distributed in 51 counties across the state, from the Front Range to rural communities. Better yet, nearly 90% of recipients were highly satisfied with the program! Recipients expressed immense gratitude, reporting that they felt significantly more prepared for potential power outages and experienced a stronger sense of security and peace of mind for emergencies. They also reported feeling relieved about the ability to power essential devices like breathing machines and electric wheelchairs during increasingly frequent fires or storms, all while saving thousands on the cost of a backup system.

Launch of Our New Emergency Preparedness Website

Ready Now and Surviving in Place have ended, but Emergency Preparedness continues to be a key service area for us.

It is extremely important that every member of our community is accounted for, safe, and has the resources they need during an emergency. To this end, we’re excited to announce the launch of our new Emergency Preparedness website, a hub with all the resources you need to be ready now. There, you can learn about classes, find resources and activities, and meet our team. You can learn about other programs that are offering backup power for your equipment, review our Ready Now awareness campaign, and find local agencies to connect with. Being prepared for an emergency is more important than ever, and we are here to answer your questions.

Author: Zachary Hersh

The Emergency Preparedness program, managed by CIDE at CU Denver, aims to provide training and resources to help individuals with disabilities get ready for, respond to, and recover from an emergency. To learn more about this program, visit www.ucdenver.edu/cide/emergencyprep, or contact Emergency Preparedness Program Coordinator, Julia Beems.