Responding to the deaf in disasters: establishing the need for systematic training for state-level emergency management agencies and community organizations

Engelman, Alina; Ivey, Susan L; Tseng, Winston; Dahrouge, Donna; Brune, Jim; Neuhauser, Linda

doi:10.1186/1472-6963-13-84

i

Responding to the deaf in disasters: establishing the need for systematic training for state-level emergency management agencies and community organizations

Supporting Files

Mar 07 2013
By Engelman, Alina ; Ivey, Susan L ; Tseng, Winston ; ...

File Language:

English

Details

Alternative Title:

BMC Health Serv Res
Personal Author:

Engelman, Alina ; Ivey, Susan L ; Tseng, Winston ; Dahrouge, Donna ; Brune, Jim ; Neuhauser, Linda
Description:

Background

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (Deaf/HH) individuals have been underserved before and during emergencies. This paper will assess Deaf/HH related emergency preparedness training needs for state emergency management agencies and deaf-serving community-based organizations (CBOs).

Methods

Four approaches were used: 1) a literature review; 2) results from 50 key informant (KI) interviews from state and territorial-level emergency management and public health agencies; 3) results from 14 KI interviews with deaf-serving CBOs in the San Francisco Bay Area; and 4) a pilot program evaluation of an emergency responder training serving the Deaf/HH in one urban community.

Results

Results from literature review and state and territorial level KIs indicate that there is a substantive gap in emergency preparedness training on serving Deaf/HH provided by state agencies. In addition, local KI interviews with 14 deaf-serving CBOs found gaps in training within deaf-serving CBOs. These gaps have implications for preparing for and responding to all-hazards emergencies including weather-related or earthquake-related natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and nuclear-chemical disasters.

Conclusion

Emergency preparedness trainings specific to responding to or promoting preparedness of the Deaf/HH is rare, even for state agency personnel, and frequently lack standardization, evaluation, or institutionalization in emergency management infrastructure. This has significant policy and research implications. Similarly, CBOs are not adequately trained to serve the needs of their constituents.
Subjects:

Community-Institutional Relations Deafness Disaster Planning Disasters Emergency Responders Emergency Service, Hospital Healthcare Disparities Humans Inservice Training Interdisciplinary Communication Interviews As Topic Persons With Hearing Impairments Program Evaluation State Government Urban Population
Source:

BMC Health Serv Res. 2013; 13:84.
Pubmed ID:

23497178
Pubmed Central ID:

PMC3637441
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

5P01TP000295/TP/OPHPR CDC HHS/United States
Place as Subject:

San Francisco, CA
Volume:

13
Collection(s):

CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:a825d74fc87faf4c0f8497086b577fe4bf98002bb6ab610b35500abc69c0dae4
Download URL:

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/22613/cdc_22613_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 474.37 KB ]

File Language:

English

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