Case study: inclusiveness in joint Chile-Japan tsunami & earthquake drill
This document presents the findings of a case study of the Chile-Japan bi-national tsunami and earthquake drill held simultaneously in Valparaiso, Chile and Hososhima, Japan. The exercise emulated an earthquake with a tsunami of 8.8 Richter scale. The mission of ONG Inclusiva was to observe the drill and carry out an assessment of the degree of inclusion of people with disabilities, following a very strict protocol to evaluate specifically the stages of preparation and emergency response in a plan for a high-intensity earthquake and tsunami.
The study presented some valuable conclusions, particularly from the perspective of inclusion in situations of emergency:
- Environmental barriers such as architectonical barriers combined with geographical factors such as mountainous landscapes in the coastline (Japanese and Chilean landscapes) reduces at least twice the survival possibilities of people with disabilities and their assistants/family or co- workers;
- Critical infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and rehabilitations centers cannot be placed in dangerous zones;
- Resilient cities need to be intelligent cities with systems, services and technologies that have dialogues among them reducing vulnerabilities. The data collected must be used to design better, with inputs from the community. People with disabilities must be key actors in urban planning.
- Urban planning needs to follow universal design;
- Urban planning should contemplate better conditions in safe zones that would house temporally people who are escaping from tsunami;
- The planning of the drills must take into account the needs of people with psychiatric disabilities, Down syndrome, autism, deaf people among others.
- Local governments must work with local people with disabilities, the emergency authorities and ministries involved in building regulations alongside private sector to improve design and regulations;
- Drivers need to not use their cars, but due to the danger that cars represent to pedestrians with disabilities, sidewalks must follow Universal Design applied to Emergencies Standards (UDES) with no barriers and of a proper width;
- People with disabilities and related organizations must work at local and national levels with authorities involved in risk reduction, and must work as observers and technical evaluators;
- Communities need to be trained as inclusive risk reduction teams with procedure and protocols;
- International cooperation should have specific projects on inclusive risk reduction.