Market scope note: This article covers materials from both Korea and the United States. Each piece of information is labeled 🇰🇷 Korea or 🇺🇸 U.S. in the text to indicate which country it applies to.
Extreme heat, heavy snow, falls, sudden health crises — disasters and emergencies arrive without warning, and their impact falls far harder on older adults. For children living abroad who cannot be at their parents' side, the worry is even greater. Let us look at what policies and systems Korea and the United States each have in place in 2026 to build a safety net for seniors in emergencies.
🇰🇷 Korea The most notable change is the expansion of eligibility for the 'Solitary Elderly & Disabled Persons Emergency Safety Care Service' (독거노인·장애인 응급안전안심서비스). The Ministry of Health and Welfare revised its guidelines so that any older adult living alone may apply regardless of income, removing the previous income-based criteria. The service installs a total of five types of ICT devices in the home — including an emergency call button, motion sensor, and fire detector — to monitor signs of distress in real time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and automatically connects to Fire Station 119 the moment an emergency is detected. Previously, the service had been installed in approximately 240,000 households and had responded swiftly to more than 155,000 emergency situations per year.
🇰🇷 Korea Emergency medical infrastructure is being strengthened as well. In 2026, the staffing of regional emergency coordination centers will increase from 120 to 150 personnel, enhancing the coordination of emergency patient transport and transfers, and the number of regional emergency medical centers will expand from the existing 44 to approximately 60. Support for replacing aging equipment and purchasing new equipment (19.1 billion won) has also been newly established for emergency rooms in underserved areas. On the disaster alert side, a new higher-level emergency disaster text message has been introduced as of May 2026 for disaster-level rainfall of 100 mm or more per hour, enabling faster guidance for early evacuation of older adult households.
🇰🇷 Korea The 노인맞춤돌봄서비스 (Customized Care Service for Older Adults) has also been expanded starting in 2026 to cover 576,000 people, with the 'priority group' requiring constant protection growing to 55,000 individuals. The emergency care support program (긴급돌봄 지원사업) has been expanded to more than 142 cities, counties, and districts, allowing older adults to receive up to 72 hours of in-home care, household assistance, mobility support, and visiting bathing services when an emergency arises, such as the absence of a primary caregiver.
🇺🇸 U.S. In the United States, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and ACL (Administration for Community Living) serve as the two pillars of senior emergency preparedness. ACL emphasizes that older adults and people with disabilities suffer disproportionately large harm in disaster situations, and promotes a 'whole-community' approach as the core principle of disaster preparedness. Through its 2026 Winter Storm Partners Toolkit, FEMA warned that medically vulnerable older adults are among those most at risk during disasters such as power outages, and stressed the importance of having a heating plan, knowing the locations of warming centers, and establishing an advance evacuation plan.
🇺🇸 U.S. At the individual and family level, FEMA and the American Red Cross offer concrete practical guidance. Older adult households are advised to keep at least a 30-day supply of medications, batteries for medical devices, and copies of medical records in an emergency kit, to register for local emergency alerts, and to receive real-time weather warnings through the FEMA app. Converting regular benefit payments such as Social Security to electronic delivery ensures they continue uninterrupted even if postal services are disrupted during a disaster. In the United States, disaster assistance can be requested through DisasterAssistance.gov or the FEMA helpline at 1-800-621-3362.
Whether in Korea or the United States, the prospect of an older adult facing a disaster alone, without family nearby, is the most frightening scenario of all. Both countries have policies in place, but actually applying for services and putting an emergency plan together is something families must take the initiative to do. Try sitting down with your parents to create a list of emergency contacts — in Korea, apply for the Emergency Safety Care Service at your local 주민센터 (community center); in the United States, make use of Ready.gov and the local aging services network through the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116.
Sources: Korea Policy Briefing — Ministry of Health and Welfare, 'Changes in Health and Welfare Policy for 2026' (December 2025); Ministry of Health and Welfare press release on the expansion of the Solitary Elderly Emergency Safety Care Service; EasyWelfare (이지복지), '2026 Emergency Safety Care Service Application Guide' (March 2026); Korea Meteorological Administration 2026 Key Business Plan; FEMA 2026 Winter Storm Partners Toolkit (hstoday.us, January 2026); Ready.gov (Older Adults page); ACL Administration for Community Living (Emergency Preparedness page); American Red Cross (Older Adults Emergency Preparedness page); DisasterAssistance.gov (Disaster Resources for Older Adults, March 2026).
Note: This article was compiled by AI from the sources cited above. We strive for accuracy, but for decisions about your specific situation, please confirm the latest guidance from a professional or the relevant agency.