Managing emergencies and disasters in general practice

Module 1 – Prevention and preparedness

Supporting ‘at-risk’ populations prepare for and manage emergencies and disasters

      21. Supporting ‘at-risk’ populations prepare for and manage emergencies and disasters
  1. Resources
  2. References

Module 1 – Prevention and preparedness | Supporting ‘at-risk’ populations prepare for and manage emergencies and disasters

General practices play an important role in supporting vulnerable communities in preparing for emergencies and disasters. Considering how you and your team may be able to help prepare at-risk people prior to an event can have a positive impact on their ability to respond and recover.

Patient resources: The Australian Red Cross’ ‘Resources to help you’

The Australian Red Cross’ Resources to help you webpage contains a host of useful and well broken-down emergency management resources that are aimed at a range of ‘at-risk’ populations to assist them in preparing for, responding to and recovering from disasters.

Consider making patients aware of these resources or creating copies of relevant information sheets available on this website for your patients to take home with them.


During disaster, people can find themselves separated from their friends, family or their familiar surroundings.

You can help displaced people in an emergency or disaster by:

Take action

  • being aware of services that are available to help reunite people with their friends and families, and
  • knowing where to direct those who are not able to return home (i.e. being aware of where your closest evacuation centre, recovery centre or other safe location is).

An example of an organisation who may be able to assist in reuniting people with their friends and family is Australian Red Cross. Their Register. Find. Reunite. service registers, finds and reunites family, friends and loved ones after an emergency.

How evacuation centres can support displaced people

Evacuation centres often provide:

  • safe, temporary shelter for people to stay while they are unable to return to their homes,
  • some basic needs such as shelter, food, water and clothing,
  • emotional support and guidance on accessing financial and housing assistance (people attending evacuation centres are typically registered and asked questions to ensure they receive the support they require), and
  • regular event updates from emergency responders.

Some evacuation centres also offer items like dental packs, period packs, snacks, charging stations, and clothing.

You can find a list of services that should be provided in evacuation centres in the RACGP’s Information for general practitioners working in evacuation centres resource.

Note: Depending on the type and severity of the disaster, evacuation centres may be converted into recovery centres4 to assist the community in managing the recovery phase of an event. Your local PHN will be able to tell you if the evacuation centre in your area will be converted into a recovery centre, or whether there are other arrangements in place.


There is a high prevalence of people living with chronic conditions across Australia. This means that communities affected by a disaster are likely to have a high number of people living with chronic conditions needing to be managed by a network of healthcare services.

A substantial component of successful chronic condition management is self-management. People living with chronic conditions must be supported to understand that their decisions and behaviours have the most powerful effect on their situation. The provision of self-management support is essential to helping people with chronic diseases to successfully manage their condition in the event of a natural disaster or emergency.5

A disaster or emergency may interrupt the care people with chronic conditions receive due to a range of reasons such as:

  • less carer services being available or weakened care coordination,
  • interruptions to power supplies (affecting medical equipment use including fridges), and
  • a drop in the availability of essential medications.

Take action

You can help people living with chronic conditions manage an emergency or disaster by:

  • engaging them in conversations about disaster planning and preparedness before an event occurs, especially if they live in a high-risk area, to assess individual levels of emergency preparedness,
  • understanding the individual’s capabilities and support required on a typical day, using this information to consider what extra support they may require during an emergency,
  • ensuring they have a personal emergency plan in place,
  • providing early medical and self-management support to help prevent and treat exacerbations in chronic conditions during disasters, where possible,
  • protecting essential equipment and stockpiling essential medicines,
  • being aware of resources that patients can refer to assist them in managing their condition(s).

Person-centred emergency preparedness (PCEP) tool

The PCEP is a tool that has been designed for use by community health and disability providers to enable emergency preparedness in people living with chronic health conditions. Your team can use the PCEP tool to facilitate useful conversations with patients, raising awareness about emergency preparedness to:

  • improve emergency preparedness for people living with chronic health conditions and disability,
  • reduce negative consequences of disaster, and
  • improve recovery following an event.

Access the PCEP tool


For people using medical equipment at home, a power outage can be life threatening. Every person who uses medical equipment at home should have a plan in place for power outages, even if they are registered as a Life Support customer with their energy provider.

Take action

You can help people using medical equipment at home to manage emergencies and disasters by:

  • engaging them in conversations about disaster planning and preparedness before an event occurs, especially if they live in a high-risk area, to assess individual levels of emergency preparedness,
  • understanding the individual’s capabilities and support required on a typical day, using this information to consider what extra support they may require during an emergency,
  • ensuring they have a personal emergency plan in place for potential power outages (see ‘Patient resource: Life support Power Outage Plan’ below),
  • being aware of resources that patients can refer to assist them in self-managing their condition(s).

Patient resource: Life support Power Outage Plan

People using medical equipment at home can prepare themselves for an emergency or disaster by using tools developed by the Life Support Power Outage Plan national public awareness campaign.

The campaign website includes a My Power Outage Checklist to get the right conversations and thinking happening. Users are then guided to create a My Power Outage Plan, tailored to their unique needs, that can then be shared with your practice and any other services or people in their community that they rely upon for help.


While some are more resilient than others, older people face unique risks during disasters. Examples of health issues that may place older people more at risk than others include:

  • chronic medical conditions,
  • cognitive impairment,
  • decreased sensory awareness,
  • multiple comorbidities,
  • reduced mobility, and
  • withdrawals from a range of psychoactive medications.

Other factors that contribute to higher levels of risk amongst older people include socioeconomic disadvantages (i.e., social isolation, lower incomes, residential instability) and inexperience with or a lack of confidence in completing online processes.

Take action

You can help older people manage emergencies and disasters by:

  • ensuring information about disasters and relevant medical support is successfully communicated early on, especially in scenarios where the person lives alone, 
  • ensuring they have a personal emergency plan in place, and that at least someone in their support system (where applicable) is aware of their plan,
  • understanding the individual’s capabilities and support required on a typical day, using this information to consider what extra support they may require during an emergency,
  • providing early medical and self-management support to help prevent and treat exacerbations in chronic conditions during disasters, where possible.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have unique communities, capacities and needs. The definition of an emergency may differ between communities.6 

Wider-scale emergency planning should always include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members to help ensure emergency management agencies understand relationships between communities and the local environment.

Take action

  • You can help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people manage emergencies and disasters by:
  • contacting your PHN to be made aware of any local information or resources specific to assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people before, during and after emergencies (including posters), if available,
  • providing, or being aware of, services that offer culturally safe and appropriate long-term healing services for people experiencing ongoing distress due to a disaster,
  • listening to and working with local community member practitioners to help identify specific support that may be needed during an emergency, and
  • ensuring the full practice team takes part in relevant cultural awareness training.
  • Further and more specific insight into supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities during disasters, including lessons learnt from the 2019-20 bushfire season, can be found under ‘Resources’ .


Pregnant and breastfeeding people have specific needs and risks that should be considered in emergency planning. Changes in their immune, heart and lung physiology make them more vulnerable to infectious diseases (e.g., influenza, whooping cough), and more likely to experience reductions in milk supply.

You can help pregnant and breastfeeding people manage emergency or disasters by:

Take action

  • considering including conversations regarding disaster preparedness with pregnant patients during antenatal and postnatal visits, especially if they live in high-risk areas,
  • recommending that they develop an emergency plan to refer to, if need be, and
  • being aware of helpful resources that you can direct these patients to in the lead up to or in the event of an emergency.

Patient resource: Emergency resources for babies and toddlers

The Australian Breastfeeding Association’s Emergency resources for babies and toddlers webpage contains clear, helpful information for parents when preparing for, being in the midst of and recovering from an emergency or disaster. It includes guidance on:


Children are potentially more vulnerable to disasters because of their physiology, immune system and developmental stage. They rely on others to listen to and respond to their needs.

During emergency situations, children are often subject to the decision making of adults around them. Therefore, it is essential that their caregivers (i.e., parents, guardians) are supported in understanding the needs of their children in the changed circumstances.

Where possible, adult caregivers and children should be kept together and asked to clarify if they have any specific needs. Ideally, children should be provided with opportunities to contribute to, talk about and reflect upon disaster experiences.

Take action

You can help children manage emergencies and disasters by:

  • including them in calm, informative conversations with their parents about emergencies and disasters,
  • offering a safe space for them to talk about their feelings, if they wish to do so,
  • supporting their caregivers in understanding their individual needs during an event, and
  • directing their caregivers to helpful resources they can refer to in the lead up to or in the event of an emergency. 

Emerging Minds offers a range resources aimed specifically at GPs to assist them in working with children and families in places affected by natural disaster or community trauma. Visit their General Practitioners webpage to access these resources.

Family guidance resources: Preparing for, responding to and recovering from disasters

Raisingchildren.net.au is a website dedicated to parenting guidance for Australians. Thier Natural disasters: family guidance webpage contains information, ideas and activities for parents to consider utilising when helping their children prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

Healthdirect's Supporting kids through a natural disaster webpage contains helpful information for parents before, during and after a natural disaster.


Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) patients and communities, particularly recently arrived migrants and refugees, are typically considered more vulnerable to the effects of emergencies and disasters due to a variety of factors including:

  • an unfamiliarity with their current physical and social environment,
  • low English proficiency,
  • unawareness of disaster risks in their area,
  • undeveloped support networks, and
  • potential previous traumatic experience(s).

Those who fall within this category may be less likely to be prepared for emergencies and disasters, less able to cope with events, and more likely to experience challenging recovery journeys.7

Take action

You can help CALD patients manage emergencies and disasters by:

  • engaging them in conversations about disaster planning and preparedness, especially if they live in a high-risk area, before an event occurs,
  • ensuring they have a personal emergency plan,
  • providing guidance on where and how to seek support during an event,
  • directing CALD parents to relevant family support services and resources such as raisingchildren.net.au and the Australian Breastfeeding Association (see ‘Pregnant people, breastfeeding people and babies’ and ‘Children’ for further detail),
  • providing clear resources in multiple languages to help ensure accessibility, and
  • providing or being aware of where CALD patients can access culturally appropriate mental health support.

Australian Red Cross emergency preparedness information in different languages

The Australian Red Cross have downloadable emergency preparedness information and guidance available in a variety of languages. Visit their Emergencies and disasters: Resources to help you webpage to access flyers, videos and personal emergency plans for your CALD patients to refer to.

Translating and interpreting services during a disaster

The Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) offers translation and interpreting services for people with limited English proficiency and for businesses that need to communicate with non-English speaking people. Their services may be useful to both your patients and your practice team during an emergency. Consider taking note of their details to use during an event and to pass on to patients where appropriate.


People living with disability may need additional information or assistance to successfully plan, respond and recover from an emergency. People with disability are typically among the most neglected during emergency and disaster events, with particularly restricted access to social networks and other sources of support.8

You can help people living with disability manage emergencies and disasters by:

  • engaging them in conversations about disaster planning and preparedness, especially if they live in a high-risk area, before an event occurs,
  • ensuring that they have a personal emergency plan in place,
  • developing a plan regarding how your practice can continue to support your patients living with disabilities in the event of a disaster,
  • being aware of local disability support organisations in your area. 


Socioeconomically disadvantaged people across the world are more likely to live in housing and areas vulnerable to disasters. Following an event, they face a multitude of barriers to receiving the assistance they require to recover and may be more likely than others to experience distress, depression and physical health problems.

Take action

You can help socioeconomically disadvantaged people manage emergencies and disasters by:

  • engaging them in conversations about disaster planning and preparedness before an event occurs,
  • recommending that they have a personal emergency plan in place, and
  • becoming aware of low or no-cost mental health services that may be of assistance to your patients prior to and following an event.
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