Pets Rescued Faster Than Elderly After 9/11

April 22, 2003
A report finds that a large population of older persons and people with disabilities living near the World Trade Center disaster area were left stranded in their homes without assistance after Sept. 11, 2001.

Animal advocates were on the scene the next day to rescue abandoned pets, while frail and infirm humans waited a week or more for an ad hoc team to rescue, the not-for-profit International Longevity Center-USA found.

The project was funded by The New York Times 9/11 Neediest Fund and documents "the near abandonment of many frail and infirm New Yorkers," Dr. Robert N. Butler, ILC-USA president said.

To prevent this from happening again, the ILC has drafted a plan, "Emergency Preparedness for Older People" (EPOP). The plan offers three principal recommendations:

• creating a citywide emergency plan for older and disabled people;
• using census reports and city demographics to create a map identifying neighborhoods with a high concentration of older people; and
• creating a universal system of providing medication or prescription refills on an emergency basis.

Although the issue brief was developed to meet the needs of vulnerable New Yorkers, it can be used by cities across the country for any type of emergency such as hurricanes, floods and tornadoes, says ILC-USA.

More information: www.ilcusa.org/_lib/pdf/epopib.pdf