If you have impaired vision

Be prepared

If you have a visual impairment, a power cut, a flood or another public emergency can be particularly difficult. You may need to fetch water from a place you have never been to before or make your way to a specific assembly point. That is why it is important that you are prepared and get in touch with others for help.

• Contact your local council and ask what support they can offer.
• Talk to your neighbours and family about how you can help one another.
• Have a plan in place for how you can take essential aids with you if you need to leave your home at short notice.
• Contact the Swedish Association for the Visually Impaired. They have specialist crisis instructors who are themselves visually impaired.

Good to have at home

Everyone needs to be able to look after themselves for at least a week and have a supply of food, water, medicines and other essentials at home.

Read more about home preparedness

Specific advice for people with visual impairments

• A battery-powered radio tuned to the P4 station.
• Information about your visual impairment written on a piece of plastic-coated paper.
• A list of telephone numbers to your most important contacts.
• Charged spare batteries for your technical aids.
• A spare white cane and a watch that works without needing to be charged.
• Extra food and water for your guide dog.

Practise for a crisis

By practising, you’ll be better prepared. You may also identify gaps in your preparedness that you can improve.

• Imagine a crisis situation, for example a long power cut. Think about how you would get hold of food, water and important information, use the toilet, and how you would communicate with others when there is no electricity.
• Find out where the nearest civil defence shelter or emergency meeting point is and practise getting there.