Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) Hosted First Inclusivity-focused Emergency Preparedness Academy

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., Nov. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) partnered with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Earthquake Country Alliance, PrepItForward and the Inland Empire Disabilities Collaborative to host the first public Disability & Access and Functional Needs (DAFN) Preparedness Academy on November 6, 2019. The preparedness academy aimed to meet a state initiative to improve inclusivity of preparedness, response and recovery capabilities for all throughout the Inland Empire, regardless of ability.

Historically, disaster and emergency preparedness training has focused on mobile bodied individuals and gave limited attention to the DAFN population. The academy focused on new disaster and emergency standards that include in depth planning to address DAFN disaster and emergency preparedness, response and recovery.

Topics including wildfire safety, power outages, active shooter and earthquake preparedness were presented by PrepItForward's Chris Grant.

"We're grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with our partners to provide a platform to share information that positively and directly impacts the populations we serve," said IEHP Chief Operating Officer Susie White. "Based on the response and interest of the community and our partners, we are planning to host more training events to keep inclusivity-focused disaster and emergency preparedness, response and recovery an ongoing conversation."

Academy attendees also included local and regional partners as well as local government officials such as Rancho Cucamonga City Mayor L. Dennis Michael, the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Earthquake Country Alliance, Autism Society Inland Empire, United Cerebral Palsy Inland Empire and the Riverside County Emergency Management Department and more.

About IEHP
IEHP, Inland Empire Health Plan, is a not-for-profit Medicaid and Medicare health plan located in Rancho Cucamonga, California. With a network of more than 6,400 providers and more than 2,000 employees, IEHP serves more than 1.2 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plan (Medicare-Medicaid Plan). Through a dynamic partnership with Providers, award-winning service and innovative products, IEHP is fully committed to providing our Members with quality, accessible and wellness-based health care services. For more information, visit www.iehp.org.

SOURCE IEHP