Caitlin Arnold 9/24/2013 English 2010

Report on Emergency Preparedness for the Deaf

A television show called Switched At Birth is about two girls who were switched at birth as babies and then find out later in their teenage years. Turns out, that one the girls became Deaf due to illness. Recently, they did an episode that was done entirely in sign language. The Deaf girl named Daphne, went into her birth parents home late at night, to speak with her switched counter part named Bay. When Daphne entered into the house, it was dark, you see what Daphne sees and you cant hear anything. Nothing seems to be unusual until you see the family running into the kitchen where Daphne was. The father holding a bat looking like he was ready to attack, Daphne became alarmed and asked, Whats going on? Bay answered, You tripped the burglar alarm! This scene was brought to the front of my mind when I was researching safety procedures for the Deaf in working environments, what I learned was a little disturbing. "To date, we have identified only fifteen training programs and disaster simulation exercises for the Deaf/HH across the country targeting emergency responders (5), certified ASL interpreters (2), deaf-blind people (1), government agencies (4) and the Deaf community (7). Some training programs target multiple audiences. These training programs range from onetime workshops to more extensive training modules" (Engelman). The academic journal that this quote originates from discusses the problem of the lack of preparedness for Deaf people in emergency situations in the workplace. Often times, when companies are not prepared, they simply give the Deaf person a manual and expect them to read and understand the material given to them; however another academic journal states that, "In addition, an extensive body of literatureover 800 studies conducted during the past two decadesshows that most health

Caitlin Arnold 9/24/2013 English 2010

information is written at levels that exceed peoples abilities to understand it" (Neuhauser). Since American Sign Language is in fact a different language, trying to read, decipher, translate, and understand all at the same time would take a lot of time and dedicated concentration. This is not equal to the time and attention needed from hearing people, who simply sit through an orientation meeting for half an hour. To argue the point that safety and health for the Deaf worker need to be higher concerns for companies would be a waste of time since I believe everyone should be able to agree with that. I would like to offer solutions to the problem; solutions such as flashing lights, or electronic notifications. These would help the Deaf worker recognize that there is an emergency happening. Perhaps the lights could be color coded for the type of disaster. If the electronic alarm showed up on their computer, perhaps it would say what type of disaster. Small inexpensive solutions would help save people from panic, injury, and some lives.

Caitlin Arnold 9/24/2013 English 2010

Works Cited Engelman, Alina; et al. "Responding to the Deaf in Disasters: Establishing the Need for Systematic Training for State-Level Emergency Management Agencies and Community Organizations." BMC Health Services Research (2013). Library Database. 2013.

Neuhauser L, Ivey SL, Huang D, Engelman A, Tseng W, et al. (2013) Availability and Readability of Emergency Preparedness Materials for Deaf and Hardof-Hearing and Older Adult Populations: Issues and Assessments. PLoS ONE 8(2): Library Database. 2013.

"Occupy Carlton." Switched At Birth. ABC Family. Burbank, California. 4 March. 2013. Television