BLOOMINGTON — Some people who are immobile or have a disability are unable to take care of themselves during a disaster.

Which is why a panel that includes representatives of the McLean County Health Department, McLean County Emergency Management Agency, American Red Cross of the Heartland, Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, OSF St. Joseph Medical Center and other local agencies recently introduced the McLean County Special Need Registration Form that is being distributed to McLean County residents who have a functional need.

The goal of the voluntary program is for local emergency management agencies to know — in advance of disasters — who has a functional need, such as a physical or mental disability, a chronic disease, a language barrier or a medical limitation because of impaired vision, hearing or mobility.
“It’s basically given us a database that we can look back on to help us respond and identify the resident who may have the extra needs in an emergency,” said McLean County EMA Director Curtis Hawk.
In addition to basic contact information, the free McLean County Special Need Form asks about a person’s special need, type of residence, whether he or she requires transportation and emergency contacts. All of the forms are returned to the McLean County EMA where the database is maintained.
“It’s going to be maintained here on our secure database and it will be given to the responders at the time of an incident,” said Hawk. “For example, let’s say the Town of LeRoy has a chemical spill or is hit by a tornado. We can take the database and cross reference that with the GIS mapping tool and work on finding where the people are, according to their address locations.”
Since the panel launched the program on January 13, McLean County EMA has received “quite a few forms” from McLean County residents with functional needs, said Hawk.
“What we’ll have to do is every time we receive a registration form, we’ll have to enter it; but then again, we’ll have to continually request out to the folks that if they have a change in their registration to let us know, so we can keep it populated and current,” said Hawk.
McLean County Special Need Registration Forms are available at the Salvation Army, 611 W. Washington St., Bloomington, American Red Cross of the Heartland, 1 Westport Court, Bloomington, Area Agency on Aging, Inc., 1003 Maple Hill Rd., Bloomington, and other social service agencies in McLean County.
According to Hawk, McLean County residents will soon be able to download the form at the McLean County EMA website www.mcleancountyema.org.
The panel has spent the several years developing the special needs database that is unlike anything in the Midwest, said Hawk.
“Some places in Arizona and Florida — they use a different type of form that we’re using, but they’re seeking basically the same information,” said Hawk.
Because none of the counties neighboring McLean County have a special needs database, the panel has allowed those counties to copy their database model.
“Most of them (neighboring counties) are having difficulty trying to manage it (special needs database) and getting it accomplished, but everyone I’ve made contact with or asked about it, I’ve told them they are free to take it, copy it and use it for themselves,” said Hawk.
To learn more about the McLean County Special Needs Registration Form, call Hawk at (309) 888-5021 or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .