A functional needs approach to emergency planning.

Objective: This study was conducted to test the ability of the St Louis County Department of Health to efficiently dispense medication to individuals with functional needs during a public health emergency and develop new guidelines for future emergency planning. Historically, people with functional needs have been vulnerable in emergency situations, and emergency planners are responsible for creating equal access for mass prophylaxis events.

Methods: Measures to create access for individuals with functional needs were tested in a countywide exercise in which 40 volunteers with functional needs walked through an open point of dispensing location to collect medication as if it were a real emergency.