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Description
A spinal cord injury is classified as an impairment of the nerves that compose the spinal cord. A spinal cord injury can affect the motor and sensory pathways below the level of the injury. As a result, people with spinal cord injury experience physical, emotional, and environmental barriers. Furthermore, they experience an increase in health-related issues such as autonomic dysreflexia, changes in the bowel and bladder system, pressure wounds, and difficulty regulating body temperature. However, these comorbidities are often exacerbated during a natural disaster. Additionally, the physical and environmental barriers continue to influence this population in times of disaster. The overall difficulty of navigating a natural disaster puts people at risk for occupational disruption but can be more likely for this population due to the barriers that influence their daily life pre/post natural disaster. People with disabilities are 2 to 4 times more likely to sustain a secondary injury or a fatality. Literature shows that disaster preparation can positively influence response and recovery to a natural disaster. Existing resources on natural disaster preparation fail to include specific considerations of the spinal cord community's needs. To address this problem, an educational video series was created. This video series contains 10 videos, providing insight and considerations of the specific needs that the spinal cord injury population may face during a disaster, evacuation, and sheltering in place.
Publication Date
Summer 8-21-2024
Publisher
University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
Keywords
Disaster planning, Spinal cord injury, OT's role in disaster planning, Educational video series
Medical Subject Headings
Emergency management, Spinal cord injuries, Disaster management, Emergency preparedness, Relief planning
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences | Occupational Therapy | Rehabilitation and Therapy
Recommended Citation
Webre, K., Gerardi, S. M., & Hicks, E. (2024, August 21). Disaster Planning for People with Spinal Cord Injury: An Educational Video Series. Poster presented at the Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium, University of St Augustine for Health Sciences. Retrieved from https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonessummer2024/49
Comments
Poster presented at the OTD Capstone Symposium, held at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (Austin Campus) on August 22, 2024.