Study on the Impact of Individual Evacuation Drills for People with Special Needs in Evacuation.

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the issues that can be addressed by conducting individual evacuation drills with people with special needs in evacuation, and to discuss the impact of such drills on community disaster management. The subjects were five persons with special needs in evacuation on Tokashiki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, and the research method was a participant observation survey and categorization of participants' opinions." The results show that individual evacuation drills had an impact on various levels, from the individual to family members and professionals, and the role of the drills was to promote changes in awareness and behavioral patterns, in addition to verifying feasibility of the individual evacuation plan.