Addressing the Needs of Adults and Children with Disabilities through Emergency Preparedness and Organizational Improvisation

• Author: Matthew Fifolt,Laurie Eldridge‐Auffant,Renae Carpenter,Jessica Wakelee,Lisle Hites
• Date: 01 March 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21252
• Published date: 01 March 2017

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N M  L, vol. 27, no. 3, Spring 2017 © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/nml.21252

Journal sponsored by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.

Correspondence to: Matthew Fifolt, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Health Care Organization and

Policy, 1665 University Boulevard, Room 330, N. Birmingham, AL 35294. E-mail: mfi folt@uab.edu.

Addressing the Needs of Adults

and Children with Disabilities through

Emergency Preparedness

and Organizational Improvisation

Matthew Fifolt ,1 Jessica Wakelee, 1 Laurie Eldridge-Auff ant, 2

Renae Carpenter, 2 Lisle Hites 1

1 University of Alabama at Birmingham

2 Alabama Department of Public Health

The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe the experiences of fifteen organizational

leaders and staff members who were responsible for caring for adults and children with

disabilities during a 2014 winter storm. This study integrates the literature bases of emer-

gency management and organizational improvisation. In response to this severe unexpected

winter weather event, organizational leaders and staff members demonstrated creativity

and flexibility in addressing the needs of clients, students, and patients, including adults

and children with disabilities. The study concludes with reflections about emergency plan-

ning and organizational improvisation, practical implications, and a call to action to

learn from these events and provide additional training and resources to individuals who

may be in similar situations in the future.

Keywords: emergency planning , crisis planning , organizational improvisation ,

individuals with disabilities , qualitative

STATE AND FEDERAL agencies (for example, police, fi re, Federal Emergency Management

Agency [FEMA]) expend considerable resources preparing for and responding to emergency

and disaster events. However, there are also many organizations, such as public schools and

nonprofi t organizations, that do not receive training and resources but are inevitably involved

in these emergency situations and whose staff must continue to serve their clients until offi -

cial responders arrive.

In January 2014, a rapid shift in weather patterns resulted in an unanticipated winter

weather event that left thousands of individuals, including numerous individuals with

 is journal article was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number, 5U59DD000947 –03, funded by the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the offi cial views of the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.