During an emergency situation, St. Johns County Emergency Management offers evacuation assistance to the following groups of people.
· Someone who requires transportation only to one of the county’s general shelters
· Someone who has a special medical need that requires a special medical needs shelter, but does not require transportation assistance
· Someone who has a special medical need that requires a special medical needs shelter, as well as transportation assistance
Those citizens requiring such assistance should complete an evacuation assistance request form, which can be found online at http://www.sjcemergencymanagement.org/. However, according to the county, registering on the website is not a guarantee that emergency officials will be able to assist in an emergency.
Once the assistance form has been received, it is reviewed and added to the county’s database. Citizens are then notified by mail of registration status and sent information regarding the sheltering process. After registration, the county asks that citizens send any updates on changes to their needs.
St. Johns County does not evacuate residents of nursing homes, convalescent homes, retirement homes, assisted living facilities or other group facilities. Residents should look to the management of their facility for an organized group evacuation. According to the county, under Florida State Statute 252, it is required these facilities have an emergency plan to evacuate their residents to a predetermined location outside the evacuation area.
In addition, the county does not handle special transportation requests or transportation outside of St. Johns County. The Evacuation Assistance Program transports citizens to and from shelters.
Special needs shelters cannot support dialysis, ventilator and tracheostomy patients, as well as those confined to a bed or hospital bed. Hoyer lifts are also not available at special needs shelters.
For more information, visit http://www.sjcemergencymanagement.org/.
