Evacuation Assistance Program

What is the Assistance Program

A citizen of St. Johns County requiring any type of assistance during an emergency situation should fill out an Evacuation Assistance Request.

There are 3 levels of Evacuation Assistance available.

• Someone who requires transportation only to one of our Public Shelters.
• Someone who has a special medical need that requires a Special Needs Shelter, but does not require transportation assistance.
• Someone who has a special medical need that requires a Special Needs Shelter, as well as requiring transportation assistance.

You must meet a certain medical criteria to be assigned to a Special Needs Shelter. Special Needs Shelters are for people with a serious medical need. Please review the information below regarding what is and what is not available at a Special Needs Shelter.

We Do Not

• St. Johns County DOES NOT EVACUATE residents of nursing homes, convalescent homes, retirement homes, assisted living facilities, or other group facilities. The management of their facility is responsible for an organized group evacuation of their own residents. The Registry Program for Special Needs Citizens is designed to provide evacuation assistance only for those individuals with no other alternatives available to them.
• If you require ambulance transportation and / or hospital facilities YOU must make those arrangements yourself.
• Animals may NOT accompany you to shelters. Please make prior arrangements for them.

We Can Not Support

Hospital Bed Patients:  For those confined to a bed, beds and hospital beds will not be available. Cots are available, but in a limited number. If you require a hospital bed, you may find it necessary to make arrangements to evacuate outside the area for your personal comfort.

Dialysis Patients:  There will be NO DIALYSIS TREATMENTS at any Evacuation Shelter. You need to verify with your dialysis center that they will be operational up to, and immedicately following, any emergency events. If they will not be operational, you should make arrangements to stay outside the evacuation area near your backup dialysis center. We are unable to transport shelteries to backup dialysis centers located outside of St. Johns County.

Ventilator Patients:  We cannot support ventilator patients. You must make arrangements with a hospital or facility that can support your medical needs outside the evacuation area.

Tracheostomy Patients:  No suctioning equipment is available. There will be no medical staff available to perform this procedure. You must make arrangements with a hospital or facility that can support your medical needs outside the evacuation area.

Hoyer Lifts:  For those who require a Hoyer Lift, they will not be available. If you require a Hoyer Lift, you will need to make arrangements with a hospital or facility that can support your medical needs outside the evacuation area.

Special Transportation Requests:  We do not transport to specialized hospitals or treatment centers. If you are required to go to a special facility, you need to make arrangements for transport to that facility prior to a disaster.

Registration

If you require any form of assistance, you may register with us either online, or by mail. We have an On-Line Reguest Form (link to the left), a printable Request Form (link to the left); or you may contact the Department of Emergency Management at (904) 824-5550 and we will mail a Request Form to your home for you to fill out and return.

It is important to fill out this form as completely and as accurately as possible to insure that we can meet your specialized needs in an efficient manner.

After You Are Registered

Once you are registered for the Special Needs Assistance Program, we ask that you help us in helping you by keeping us informed of any changes to your needs. We can not keep your information accurate and up to date if we are not notified. It is also important that if you no longer need our help or if you are moving that you notify us.

Having current abd up-to-date information will help to make the evacuation and sheltering process less difficult.