Medical and access needs
If someone in your household depends on electricity, medication, mobility equipment, or a caregiver, plan earlier than everyone else and plan for help to be slower than usual.
The one thingRegister with the Florida Special Needs Registry now. It tells your county emergency management office who may need help to evacuate or a special needs shelter.
Make the plan
- Register with the Florida Special Needs Registry, and update it when your needs change.
- Ask your county emergency management office whether you qualify for a special needs shelter, and what to bring if you do. Special needs shelters are not hospitals.
- Pick two people who will check on you and help you leave, one nearby and one out of the area. Give them a key and a copy of your plan.
- Talk to your doctor, dialysis center, or home health agency about their disaster plan and where you would go for treatment.
- If you use oxygen, a ventilator, a powered wheelchair, or refrigerated medicine, plan for at least three days without power: backup batteries, a generator that is safe to run outside, or somewhere else to go.
- Tell your electric utility if you rely on medical equipment. A utility cannot promise faster restoration, so plan to leave if the power will be out long.
Pack the medical kit
- At least a two-week supply of medications, in their original bottles, and a written list of each with the dose and the prescribing doctor.
- Copies of prescriptions, insurance cards, and a short summary of your conditions and allergies.
- Spare glasses, hearing aid batteries, and chargers for every device.
- A cooler and ice packs for medicine that must stay cold.
- Medical supplies for two weeks: syringes, test strips, catheters, dressings, incontinence supplies.
Leave early
- When a hurricane watch or warning covers your county, Florida law lets pharmacies refill prescriptions early. Refill everything.
- Charge every device and backup battery.
- If you need help evacuating, call your county emergency management office before the storm, not during it.
- Leave as early as you can. Evacuating takes longer with equipment, and traffic and closures make it worse.
- Take your kit, your list of medications, and your equipment with you.
After the storm
- Call 911 for a medical emergency. Call 211 for help finding food, water, shelter, and services.
- Heat is dangerous without power, especially for older adults and people with heart or lung conditions. Find a cooling center through your county or 211.
- If medicine got wet or warm, ask a pharmacist whether it is still safe before you take it.
- Ask the long-term recovery group in your county (on your county page) about help with ramps, repairs, and replacing equipment.
For official instructions, follow your county emergency management office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. This guide is general guidance from Florida VOAD's member organizations and does not replace local orders.