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Issue 3: Summer - Fall
Fostering Communication between Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Community

Photo: Stephanie Clark, CEPIN Regional Specialist for the New England and Great Lakes region, conducting training for emergency managers, planners and responders
Photo: Stephanie Clark, CEPIN Regional Specialist for the New England and Great Lakes region, conducting training for emergency managers, planners and responders.
In early August 2006, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc (TDI) launched a new training course as part of the Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network (CEPIN) Project. TDI partnered with several state organizations to win a grant of nearly $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Grants and Training to support the two-year CEPIN project. The major product born of this grant is an innovative course, Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparedness, which uses original course content to encourage networking, preparation and communication between emergency responders and deaf or hard of hearing people prior to actual disaster situations.

About TDI

TDI is a non-profit advocacy organization established in 1968 that promotes equal access to telecommunications, media and information technology for individuals who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, late deafened, or deaf-blind. Their mission has application to many facets of modern life, including advocating for administrative rules and policies that will provide greater access to wireless technology. TDI also addresses the issues of high-quality captioning of television programs and equal access to 9-1-1 centers and other public safety answering points. This work has led to TDI's involvement with the emergency responder community to ensure full access to information for deaf and hard of hearing people during disasters and other types of emergencies. TDI has successfully advocated for a variety of federal legislation to improve the lives of people with hearing loss, including the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

About CEPIN

The CEPIN Project is coordinated by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) in partnership with Development Evaluation and Adjustment Facilities, Inc. (DEAF, Inc.) in Boston, MA; Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC) in Fairfax, VA; Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD) in Tulsa, OK; and Deaf Counseling, Advocacy, and Referral Agency (DCARA) in San Leandro, CA. The two-year CEPIN project was created to develop model community education programs for emergency responders and deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers.

About the Course

Photo: Mike Monge, CEPIN Subject Matter Expert and Director of Fire and Code Services for Faribault, Minn., talks about the roles emergency responders play in emergency situations as a deaf-blind consumer and interpreter look on.
Photo: Mike Monge, CEPIN Subject Matter Expert and Director of Fire and Code Services for Faribault, Minn., talks about the roles emergency responders play in emergency situations as a deaf-blind consumer and interpreter look on.
Emergency situations are challenging for everyone. A communication barrier can derail interactions between emergency responders and members of the deaf and hard of hearing community, making an already difficult situation unmanageable. Current statistics indicate that a first responder has a high probability of encountering and needing to assist a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community during an emergency. These situations extend from the mundane traffic stop where an officer may encounter a deaf driver to extreme situations requiring mass evacuations, necessitating clear communications between the emergency management personnel and the population at large. Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparedness brings together members of the emergency response community and the deaf and hard of hearing community to foster a dialogue on how best to communicate during an emergency or disaster and to give both groups the opportunity to practice communicating with each other. These interactions will yield many positive results, including the benefit to both communities of first-hand involvement in developing the tools they need to ease communication and remain safe during times of crisis.

Topics Covered

  • Understanding Hearing Loss: Communication modes and barriers
  • Emergency Responder Roles: What do they do? What tools are needed?
  • Emergency Preparedness: Responsibilities of consumers and responders
  • Partnering for a Safer Community: How to become involved in community preparedness, response and recovery activities

Main Course Modules and Time Allocation

# Module Title Time Allocation
1 Introduction and Administration 1.0 hour
2a Communication Barriers 2.0 hour
2b Understanding the Role of the Emergency Responder and Emergency Preparedness Basics
3 Discussion of Scenario Solutions 0.50 hour
4 Legal Responsibilities, Communication and Warning Issues, and Case Studies 1.0 hour
5 Lessons Learned: Partnering for a Safer Community 1.75 hour
6 Assessment & Evaluation 1.0 hour

Training Calendar

Fourteen workshops have been scheduled from late August through late October throughout the county including three "train-the-trainer" workshops, which instruct participants how to teach the course in their local communities. For information regarding courses in your area, visit http://www.cepintdi.org or contact your regional specialist.

Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern

AL, DC, FL, GA, KY, MD, MS, NC, PR, SC, TN, VA, VI and WV

REGIONAL CENTER: Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC)

Fairfax, Va.

Lise Hamlin, CEPIN Regional Specialist

http://www.nvrc.org

New England and Great Lakes

CT, DE, IL, IN, MA, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT and WI

REGIONAL CENTER: Developmental Evaluation and Adjustment Facilities, Inc. (DEAF, Inc.)

Boston, Mass.

Stephanie Clark, CEPIN Regional Specialist

http://www.deafinconline.org

Midwest and Southwest

AR, CO, IA, KS, LA, MN, MO, NE, NM, ND, OK, SD, TX and WY

REGIONAL CENTER: Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD)

Tulsa, Okla.

Glenna Cooper, CEPIN Regional Specialist

http://www.c-s-d.org

West Coast and Hawaii

AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT and WA

REGIONAL CENTER: Deaf Counseling, Advocacy & Referral Agency (DCARA)

San Leandro, Calif.

Christine Seymour, CEPIN Regional Specialist

http://www.dcara.org

For more information on CEPIN contact:
Lisa Bothwell
National Public Relations Specialist
Community Emergency Preparedness Information
Network, TDI
Web site: http://www.cepintdi.org
Email: lbothwell@cepintdi.org
TTY: 301-589-3006
V/VP: 512-296-3347
Fax: 512-258-5396

"We immediately added some of the information presented in this forum to our ongoing CERT training, so our volunteer emergency responders would be sensitive to recognizing and communicating with members of the deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind communities."
    - Bob Roberts, Sr. Disaster Planner for R.D. Flanagan & Associates in Oklahoma
"I can't tell you how important I thought this training was. Community networking teams came, and will come, from this."
    - Marilyn Finn, State Association President of the Hearing Loss Association of California
"Great Job!!! Thank you for this course. Everybody was really and truly fabulous, helpful and knowledgeable."
    - Sgt. H. Langlois, Boston Police Department

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