How should people who use assistive devices prepare for emergencies?

Ready.gov advises planning how you will have your assistive devices with you during an evacuation, and if you use assistive technologies, planning how you will evacuate with the devices or how you will replace equipment if lost or destroyed. Key steps include maintaining backup batteries and chargers, keeping the device in good repair, identifying which devices depend on electricity, and having a manual backup when one exists. For powered wheelchairs and scooters, this means a backup plan for when the battery is depleted. For hearing aids, it means spare batteries or a charged backup. For stair lifts, it means knowing the manual release procedure.

What happens to a stair lift during a power outage?

Most stair lifts have a battery backup that provides a limited number of trips during a power outage, typically enough for several round trips. The battery recharges automatically when power returns. However, the backup is finite. If the outage lasts longer than the battery allows, someone who depends on the stair lift to access different floors will be limited to the floor they are on. Plan for this by keeping essentials on the floor where the person spends the most time, and consider whether the person should move to the main floor at the first sign of a potential outage.

Home Local Risks Senior & Mobility-Limited Assistive Devices

Senior & mobility-limited · Equipment

The devices that change everything.

A walker, a wheelchair, hearing aids, a prosthetic limb, a stair lift. Each one defines what the person can do independently. When any of them fails, runs out of power, cannot navigate debris, or gets left behind in an evacuation, the person's capability changes immediately.

Device by device

The principle

An assistive device is not optional equipment.

Standard emergency checklists treat assistive devices as an afterthought, sometimes listed under "special needs" alongside items like contact lenses and prescription sunglasses. For the person who uses one, the device is as fundamental as the ability to walk, hear, or access a different floor of their home. Planning for it deserves the same weight as planning for water and medication.

Ready.gov advises planning how you will have your assistive devices with you during an evacuation, and if you use assistive technologies, planning how you will evacuate with the devices or how you will replace equipment if lost or destroyed. FEMA's guidance for people with disabilities recommends creating a support network, keeping a list of devices and their suppliers, and having backup power and batteries ready.

This guide covers each category of device separately, because the planning questions are different for each one.

The dividing line

Powered devices and unpowered devices.

The most important distinction in assistive device preparedness is whether the device needs electricity. An unpowered walker or manual wheelchair works the same during a power outage as it does on any other day. A powered wheelchair, a stair lift, a powered scooter, or a rechargeable hearing aid depends on electricity, and when the power fails, the device degrades or stops.

Unpowered devices

Walkers, manual wheelchairs, canes, crutches, standard prosthetics. These devices work without electricity, but they can still be affected by emergencies: debris blocks a wheelchair, wet floors make a walker dangerous, a cane is useless on stairs, a prosthetic liner needs replacing after extended wear.

The planning question: what happens to the device in the conditions the emergency creates, and what is the backup if the device becomes unusable?

Powered devices

Powered wheelchairs, mobility scooters, stair lifts, powered prosthetics, rechargeable hearing aids. These devices have a battery life and a charging requirement. When the battery runs out and cannot be recharged, the device stops working.

The planning question: how long does the battery last, how will you recharge it during an outage, and what is the plan when the battery is fully depleted?

Device by device

Each device has its own questions.

Powered wheelchair or scooter

What to plan for

Know your chair's battery runtime at your typical usage level, not just the manufacturer rating
A portable power station or vehicle inverter can recharge a chair during an extended outage
Know the chair's weight capacity for loading into a vehicle
If the chair cannot navigate debris, water, or uneven surfaces, what is the backup? A manual transfer chair, a strong person, or a different exit route?

What to keep ready

Charger and any adapter cords
Equipment supplier's emergency phone number
Chair model and serial number documented for insurance and replacement
Know the manual override or freewheel procedure if the battery fails completely

Stair lift

Most stair lifts have a battery backup that provides a limited number of trips during a power outage, typically enough for several round trips. The battery recharges automatically when power returns. But the backup is finite.

Know how many trips your stair lift can make on battery backup. Ask the installer or check the manual.
Know the manual release procedure so the chair can be moved to the correct floor if the battery is depleted.
Plan to have the person move to the main floor at the first sign of a potential outage. Being upstairs with no way down is a much worse problem than being downstairs with no way up.
Keep essentials (medications, water, phone, flashlight) on both floors so the person is not stranded without them regardless of which floor they are on.

Hearing aids

A hearing aid that runs out of battery during a multi-day outage is not a minor inconvenience. The person cannot hear alerts, instructions from first responders, family conversations, or environmental sounds that signal danger. This matters more during an emergency than during ordinary life.

Disposable battery aids

Stock at least a 2-week supply of the correct battery size (zinc-air batteries: size 10 yellow, 312 brown, 13 orange, 675 blue)
Store batteries in their sealed packaging at room temperature, not in a refrigerator
Include batteries in the go-bag

Rechargeable aids

The charger needs electricity. A USB power bank can charge most modern hearing aid cases.
Know how many full charges your hearing aid case provides without being plugged in (most: 2 to 3 charges)
Keep the power bank charged. Include it in the go-bag with the correct cable.

Walkers and canes

No battery, no electricity, no charging. But the environment changes during emergencies, and that changes what the walker encounters.

Wet floors are the highest-risk condition. Walker tips and cane tips lose traction on wet tile, wood, and concrete. Replace worn tips regularly.
Debris, downed branches, and buckled pavement make outdoor walker use difficult or impossible. The path from the door to the vehicle needs to be clear before attempting it.
A folding walker or rollator travels more easily in a vehicle than a standard walker. If you use both, the folding one goes in the go-bag plan.
LED clip lights on the walker frame provide hands-free lighting during a power outage without needing to hold a flashlight.

Prosthetics

Prosthetic limbs require ongoing care, and extended displacement can create problems that do not exist during ordinary daily use.

Pack spare liners, socks, and any skin care supplies in the go-bag. Extended wear without changes causes skin breakdown.
Powered or bionic prosthetics need charging. Know the battery runtime and include a charger and power bank.
Document the prosthetist's contact information and include it in the household binder. Adjustment or repair during displacement is difficult without a provider relationship.
If you have a backup or older prosthetic that still fits, include it in the evacuation plan as a spare.

Glasses and vision aids

Covered in detail in the Everyday Essentials guide. The short version: keep an old pair of glasses in the go-bag. A person who cannot see clearly during an evacuation is at significantly higher risk of falls, of misreading signs or dosage instructions, and of being unable to communicate effectively with responders.

The backup question

If this device stops working, then what?

For every assistive device, ask one question: if it stops working right now, what is the immediate plan? The answer might be a manual version of the same device, a person who provides physical assistance, a phone call to the equipment supplier, or relocation to a facility that has what the person needs.

Whatever the answer is, it should be documented, shared with the caregiver, and tested before it is needed.

Document for each device

Device name, model, and serial number (for insurance claims and replacement)
Equipment supplier name and emergency phone number
Battery type, runtime, and charging method
What to do if the device fails (backup device, person who helps, or alternative plan)
Where the device goes during evacuation (in the vehicle, on the person, or shipped separately)
Whether insurance covers emergency replacement

This information belongs in the household binder and in the caregiver document.

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