Older people need special attention in natural disasters
Dr Joseph Coughlin, the director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, has called for a global plan on how elderly people should be rescued and better cared for in a natural disaster.
The National Seniors Connect newsletter reported him saying that the disastrous events in Japan were another sign of what happens to vulnerable elderly people in a disaster.
“Japan’s demographic profile, as first among ageing nations, will place something else on the public agenda over the next few months – the unique vulnerability and risk of older adults and frail elderly in disasters,” he said.
With a spate of natural disasters around the world recently, including the Queensland floods, he says it’s time to look at a bigger approach on the issue.
“Those who are in poor health, immobile or rely on special technologies and medications to simply make it every day are the most vulnerable even under the best of conditions.”
To read his article “Disruptive Demographics” visit http://www.disruptivedemographics.com/2011/03/old-and-at-risk-japans-earthquake.html
