Project background
Hello, my name is Herbert Klein. This vlog is focused on my Churchill Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. For the Fellowship, I’ve been researching how emergency and crisis services can better adapt their services to include the communication needs of Deaf people, particularly because Deaf people are more likely to be injured or die during a crisis situation due to the lack of communication access. One of the key recommendation areas that I’ll be focusing on is how helpful it would be for Deaf community members to be involved in advising emergency and humanitarian organisations about their community needs to increase their access during crisis situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic, earthquakes, fires, wars and major floods.
For the past year I’ve been researching emergency and disaster organisations across different countries. I’ve been gathering information regarding how these organisations include the Deaf community within their crisis adaptation plans and how some of their practices can translate to the UK. Throughout the vlog I will be explaining what I’ve learned from key organisations and researchers around the world regarding their policies and good practice about involving the Deaf community within their approaches.
My learning from the Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA), USA
My learning from the Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA), USA
Welcome to my second vlog. I began my research investigating the emergency services within the United States where the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is located.
The United States experiences frequent natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, major floods and fires. Therefore FEMA was set up in 1979 to manage these situations and support the people most affected. Through the years FEMA has developed and adapted their organisation. Now there are about ten Deaf professionals working within their organisation, some of whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting with via Zoom to learn more about their work within FEMA, which was truly a remarkable experience.
First I met with:
1. Steve Hamerdinger, Director from the Office of Deaf Services, Alabama Department of Mental Health
Division of Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Services
2. Dr. Laura M. Stough, Professor of Educational Psychology, Assistant Director, Center on Disability and Development Texas A&M University
Steve and Laura were incredibly helpful. They explained explained the emergency systems within the states they reside in at county and state levels as well as how these systems link with the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). They also introduced me to Deaf professionals connected to FEMA.
Then I met with:
1. Matthew Starr, a Disability Integration Advisor Lead
2. Charlotte Lewis the Acting Program and Policy Branch Chief for the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination. However Charlotte has now changed roles and is currently the Emergency Management Specialist within the Disaster Housing Unit
3. Robert Ferguson, a Portfolio Disability Integration Advisor. Since my meeting, Robert has also changed roles and now works within the Mass Care / Voluntary Agency Liaison program area.
Matthew, Charlotte and Robert are all Deaf professionals working within FEMA. They each explained their roles, FEMA’s organisational structure and some of the disaster management issues that they face and the importance of their work.
For example, when a hurricane recently devastated Texas, local services were unable to fully support their local residents. The President of the US declared a state of emergency under the Stafford Act. Texas then requested support from FEMA to provide emergency aid and assistance for their infrastructures and residents. FEMA also had to take into account the needs of the local population, for example, providing additional support to people with disabilities, Deafness, those with mental health conditions and they even needed to consider the needs of local prisoners. Additionally, FEMA needed to support people in remote places with limited accessibility to services.
Matthew, Charlotte and Robert's primary roles are to advise FEMA regarding how the organisation can provide accessible services to people with disabilities, including Deaf people. They continue to push for disaster service improvements within FEMA as well as other Federal agencies.
One example of how their government is working to make their services more equitable is: in the past, Deaf people had limited access to a 24/7 crisis service for people experiencing emotional distress related to disasters and they could only make contact by using text messages. Now, the Disaster Distress Helpline has Direct Video Call. See the link below.
Disaster Distress Helpline Videophone for American Sign Language Users | SAMHSA
Furthermore, Matthew, Charlotte and Robert advise FEMA with regards to providing accessible disaster warning systems to people who are Deaf. For example, they ensure that accessible communication policies are in place such as providing a sign language interpreter during live television disaster advisory warning announcements. Additionally, they have communication policies that involve text and social media advisory warnings to the Deaf community about current and upcoming disasters. For Deaf residents who do not own mobile phones and/or do not have access to social media, a Deaf FEMA representative will visit the resident’s home to inform them face-to-face to make sure that they are aware of the disaster situation and how to seek help. This means that FEMA has access to up-to-date local resident records of residents disabilities, communication, and access needs. FEMA also needs to have access to records of the number of hospitals, care homes and other facilities within the area, so that they are able to inform everyone in an accessible way of an upcoming disaster.
Non-discrimination laws are included within FEMA’s policies and covers anyone who is Deaf or has a disability.
For example, if a hurricane strikes and demolishes basic services such water, electricity and road access to hospitals, how will a person who uses a wheelchair have access to these? Non-discrimination laws state that people with Deafness and disabilities should not be discriminated against within disaster situations and that reasonable adjustments need to be made by local and federal services to provide accessible safety and shelter.
It was so interesting to learn from these Deaf professionals about how people with Deafness and disabilities are protected within the law as well as accessible disaster policies.
Interestingly the World Federation of the Deaf has a Position Paper on Accessibility: Sign Language Interpreting and translation and technological developments which outlines many of the same points discussed above regarding the need for Deaf people to have equal access to communication.
International Organisations: Part 1
Welcome to vlog three. Whilst much of my research has focused on the United States, I have also been investigating disaster and crisis services within other countries as well.
I have been in contact with the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) which aims to save and support people within disaster stricken areas. For example, they will:
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set up tent shelters in safe places away from dangerous areas for people who have lost their homes during disasters
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provide food and healthcare to disaster survivors
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provide healthcare
UNDRR provides safety and support for people who may have lost everything including their family members during a crisis or disaster situation. The organisation also supports people through the trauma and emotional impact that disasters can have.
I was interested to know how the UNDRR adjusts its services for Deaf people and whether they included the Deaf community volunteers within their disaster relief programmes. As part of my fellowship, I liaised with Deaf disaster leaders around the world and I’m delighted to say that we have now set up a new group, called the Deaf Disaster Risk Reduction (DDRR) expert group.
This group includes Emmanuel Jacq the director of International Deaf Emergency (IDE) which is based in the United States (see IDE details below) as well as representatives from International Disability Alliance.
International Deaf Emergency (IDE): As part of my fellowship I spoke with Emmanuel Jacq about IDE which is a non-profit organisation being led by Deaf people as well as an International Disabled Peoples’ Organisation (DPO). It is also an International Member of the World Deaf Federation (WFD) that has direct consultative status with the United Nations (UN). IDE’s mission is to bridge the language, communication and relationship gaps between often experienced by Deaf people. IDE offers pre- disaster preparedness and mitigation, disaster rescue and relief and post disaster rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery services. IDE supported Deaf people with disaster recovery services within Haiti in 2001.
Arbeiter Samariter-Bund (ASB): ASB is an aid and welfare organisation, engaged in areas such as civil protection, rescue services and social welfare services. ASB has been involved in supporting Deaf people in the Philippines during natural disasters
World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is a member of the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Deaf Disaster Risk Reduction (DDRR) expert group is linked to all three of these organisations. We are also liaising with British Red Cross to address Deaf communication disaster policies.
It is my hope that now that this expert group has been set up with these very knowledgeable organisations that we can really start to improve Deaf people’s access to disaster and emergency services during crisis situations. This includes improved access to communication and warnings, access to sign language interpreters during emergency situations and organisational policies that outline good practice for communication. I also hope to see more Deaf community members involved in policy and organisational development around these issues in future.
Deaf Disaster Risk Reduction (DDRR)
Part 1
Welcome to vlog four. I think it’s important to provide further information about the new Deaf Disaster Risk Reduction (DDRR) expert group to show their ongoing commitment to disaster research and reduction within the Deaf community. The members of the group are experts in their fields and have been researching the impact of disasters upon the Deaf community for many years with interesting data. The group was established out of my Churchill Fellowship work and pulls together key Deaf professionals I have been collaborating with throughout my Fellowship.
It’s important that this group becomes integrated and robust so that we know how to best practice for disasters that impact the Deaf community around the world. Within this, it’s important that we set out clear policies for organisations, improve teaching (such as Deaf awareness) and to spread the word about DDRR so that the Deaf community is aware of our aims and objectives. It’s equally important that we raise awareness about some of the disaster situations around the world and how Deaf people are being negatively impacted by these due to lack of access and lack of awareness within disaster services. There are some very sad stories that many people are unaware of due to lack of publicity. So this group will try to encourage more awareness of the situation both within the Deaf community as well as within disaster organisations so that everyone is kept up to date about what support is needed and how to get involved. Equally we will be encouraging Deaf volunteers and professionals to be involved within humanitarian projects and organisations.
In future we hope to have more developments which I will keep you updated on whilst we evolve as a group, for now though I’d like to keep these vlog entries short so that people can easily follow. Thank you for visiting!
Deaf Disaster Risk Reduction (DDRR)
Part 2
Hello, this is vlog 5. You will be able to read the text for my vlogs below as I’ll be finger spelling quite a few people’s names as well as organisations who are involved in the Deaf Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) expert group which I’ve set up associated with my Churchill Fellowship project. Whilst I explained some of the organisations involved within the DDRR expert group, I’d also like to detail the people who are part of the group as well.
First is Leyla Craig from University of Sydney is doing her PhD research related to Deaf people’s experiences of disasters within the Philippines. She has been gathering information and is involved with the Word Federation of the Deaf (WFD) as well, so it’s great that she’s involved with the DDRR expert group. She is also currently working as the Disability Inclusion and Engagement Officer, Fire and Rescue in New South Wales, Australia.
We also have Professor Kota Takayama, who is originally from Japan, and currently working at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. His research has investigated the tsunami in Japan and how Deaf people were impacted during the disaster. His research has uncovered truly sad and awful stories of Deaf people’s struggles during the disaster. So it’s great to have his expertise and involvement within DDRR.
Emmanuel Jacq (who I also spoke about in vlog 3) is also part of the group. Emmanuel has been involved in disaster preparation, rescue and rehabilitation for along time through the Deaf-led non-profit organisation, International Deaf Emergency (IDE) and assisted Deaf residents of Hatti when they were struck by a disaster.
Robert Ferguson is from the United States, and currently works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (which I explained in vlog 2). He originally worked in Texas with FEMA, and is now carrying out his work within the American Virgin Islands. His responsibilities include developing communication policies that are accessible to Deaf people during disaster warnings, evacuations and rehabilitation, for example during hurricanes. His experience is a great benefit to the group.
Charlotte Lewis, is also from FEMA as an expert adviser who travels around the United States sharing best practice around improving communication access to disaster warnings, advice and support for the Deaf community.
Otis Sizemore helps to raise money for disasters that impact Deaf people. For example, he raised money to support residents of Haiti to rebuild infrastructures for people's homes after they were demolished by a natural disaster. He brings his expertise around finding money to support people during and after these crises (for example, providing temporary tent shelters, medication, food and water).
We also have a doctor within DDRR Shazia Siddiqi from Rochester University in the United States. She’s interested in how medical professionals become involved in assisting people affected by disasters with their physical and mental health. Her research is focused on the Dominican Republic, an island in the Caribbean. She has data regarding how many Deaf people were impacted in disasters within the country including any related illness that they experienced due to crisis situations. Across the world, there is not enough data regarding how many Deaf people are negatively affected by disasters. Typically data just gives global information about people with disabilities, however there isn’t a breakdown of the types of disabilities including Deafness. This means that we have very little information about exactly how Deaf people are impacted during disasters. So Shazia brings her data expertise to the group.
Board members, Alexandre Bloxs and Pamela Molina from the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) have also joined the group to support us in developing new DDRR information and policies. WFD is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation of Deaf associations from 133 countries and can help us to improve awareness about when disasters occur and how to support members of the Deaf community.
International organisations: Part 2
Hello, welcome to vlog 6. You’ll be interested to know that over the past year lots of things have changed since I received by Churchill Fellowship. I’ve been raising awareness over the past year about the difficult experiences that the Deaf community faces during crisis situations and disasters. As global warming increases, natural disasters are becoming increasingly problematic. The UN climate Change Conference - COP26 recently occurred which also raised awareness about these issues. It’s really apparent that we need to improve the lives of Deaf people during global warming and the increased risk that they have when disasters occur.
Gallaudet University has its very own linked disaster management graduate certificate programme led by the International Development Master of Arts program with interdisciplinary partners. The programme is linked to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Global Alliance for Disaster Resource Acceleration (GARDA). This new programme had 3 parts to it, in September 2021, October 2021 and November 2021.
GARDA’s aim is to include Deafness as a specific branch of disability within their teaching programme. This is because whilst many organisations include disabilities as an umbrella term they do not typically talk about the various needs of specific disability groups such as Deaf people. Additionally, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has set up the SENDAI Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The Sendai Framework focuses on the adoption of measures which address the three dimensions of disaster risk (exposure to hazards, vulnerability and capacity, and hazard characteristics) in order to prevent the creation of new risk, reduce existing risk and increase resilience.
However some of these policies do not have enough detail about the communication access needs of Deaf people and how these vary across the Deaf identity spectrum. For example, some Deaf people use sign language and others do not, some need easy read formats, others do not. Additionally, sign language varies and is specific to every country, just like spoken language. Deaf people also have different levels of language acquisition. This all needs to be taken into consideration when considering Deaf community access to communication and information during emergency and crisis situations. Perhaps some people do not have access to mobile phones, some might not have internet access. Hopefully the SENDAI framework will be adapted to include these communication needs issues.
Emmanuel Jacq, a member of the DDRR (see vlog 3) has been involved in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). The IASC is the highest-level humanitarian coordination forum of the United Nations system. Emmanuel has raised the need for the IASC to include Deaf people in their planning and communication needs policies as well as within improving access to support during crisis situations.
So, going back to Gallaudet University, which is the leading university that is focused on Deaf learners – this is the best place to make this happen as people want to learn more about this topic and this course will increase awareness of the issues.
The person leading the graduate certificate programme is Professor Audrey Cooper (her contact details are here if your are interested in the course) who has experience in disaster training. She has teamed up with Professor Kota Takayama (another member of the DDRR expert group) and they have developed the course. Whilst Gallaudet University is a leading university focusing upon the Deaf community, hearing people are also welcome to join the programme as well.
There are a lot of updates to tell you, but I think that’s the last one I’ll tell you about for now.
World Federation of the Deaf (WFD)
Briefly I’d like to tell you about Off the Grid Mission which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing Deaf and Hard of Hearing people access to life-saving resources, especially in high-risk and remote regions around the world. The way it works is, say for instance, in Haiti, there was a disaster, then people provide money to Amazon and order things like tents, sleeping bags, drinking bottles, medication. Amazon would then send those items to Haiti very quickly.
In order to send out information about disasters quickly new Facebook pages have been set up such as Deaf Disaster Management Professional Network which will hopefully link up different organisations in order to share up to date information and to learn from each other.
I’d also like to share the good news that just recently the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) have officially linked with the Deaf Disaster Risk Reduction (DDRR) expert group. I have volunteered along with Dr Nick Palfreyman as UK representatives. There are also two representatives from the Philippines (Rommend Lo), one from France (Emmanuel Jacq), one from Nigeria (Eghdegh Keight) and one from the United States (Robert Ferguson). The seven of us will work together from January 2022 onwards to plan and network together to make sure that information is disseminated widely.
I hope to show that in addition to the work that needs to be done in the UK to address the Deaf communities experience of crisis situations (such as the Covid-19 pandemic), that more Deaf British volunteers need to work internationally across organisations to address the needs of the Deaf global community during disaster situations.
At the moment I’m also in discussion with British Red Cross regarding how to achieve more Deaf British volunteers to support with crisis situations around the world.
Another area that has had good success regarding employing Deaf professionals is the National Health Services (NHS). For example, Deaf nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists have been trained in mental health for several decades now. I’d like these professionals to volunteer with the Red Cross or other relief organisations in order to better support Deaf people within emergency and crisis situations in the UK and around the world. That way when a disaster occurs, these organisations can alert Deaf health professionals and sign language interpreters that they are needed to volunteer. Seeing these Deaf professionals in action, would be fantastic role modelling for Deaf disaster survivors and would also help them to feel safe (as someone could communicate with them) during incredibly frightening situations. We’ll see what happens with these developments in future!