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Leading the WayPrograms, Ideas and Communities to Consider

Presented by Brian Lake and Neil McDevitt2011 enABLED in Emergencies ConferenceMarch 3, 2011 Best Practices vs. Good IdeasWhat is a Best Practice? Who defines what a best practice looks like?

Disasters are local, best practices are as wellThe challenges, resources and needs in Fort Myers, Florida are very different than in Waterloo, Iowa

Lets talk about some Good Ideas You decide if something might work in your communityMississippi Interfaith Disaster Recovery Task ForceLocated in Biloxi, MSFounded in 2006 following Hurricane Katrina

Original mission was to provide spiritual and emotional care to citizens of Gulf Coast following Katrina

Has transitioned from an organization that views mitigation as part of the recovery process to mitigation as part of the preparedness process

Mississippi Interfaith Disaster Recovery Task ForceResponsible for bringing together a diverse group of faith-based organizations in the MS Gulf CoastIs the point organization between FB groups and local emergency managers and first respondersSits in EOC during disastersDisaster Coordinators in every congregation

Dr. Alice Graham, Executive Directoragraham@msidtf.orgwww.msidtf.org Blackhawk County, Iowa 911 TextingFirst 911 call center in the country to allow texting

Realized that many Deaf consumers no longer used or had TTY which was the only way to communicate with 911 center

Perfect Storm of Advancements in AccessibilityNew IP-based 911 systemDedicated champions of providing accessibility for all Partnerships with technology providers, cell carries and public sectorAnalog systems which almost all 911 centers use can not accept IP-based informationChallenge was to ensure that the text message was routed to the appropriate PSAP based on callers location and that the message was received by the PSAP in real timeWorked with local technology partners and the local cell phone providers to develop the technology, collaboration CRITICAL5Blackhawk County, Iowa 911 TextingHuge implications for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community as well as victims of domestic violence

Sarasota, Florida is evaluating the capability as they have moved to IP-based system as well

Judy Flores, Blackhawk County PSAP DirectorJFLORES@CO.BLACK-HAWK.IA.USTom Jennings, Chair, Blackhawk County 911 CommissionJenningst@waterloopolice.com Today, when a Black Hawk resident texts 9-1-1, the caller is promoted to provide their location, which is then linked to the nearest PSAP. The call taker and person needing assistance are then able to engage in a conversation to ascertain the nature of the emergency for help to be dispatched. 6

Metro Boston Transit Authority - MBTAFound significant amount of human resources needed to evacuate passengers with disabilities

Evaluated plan and equipment and designed a system that enables all passengers to be evacuated

Purchased 512 Evacuation Chairs, 12 Mechanical Evacuation Carts w/ trailers that were specifically designed for MBTA environment Trained w/ PWD

1 per two cars, 1 per station, 30 facility based, 40 to first responders

8Metro Boston Transit Authority - MBTAGary Talbot, Assistant General Manager, MBTAgtalbot@mbta.com

9Accessible Education: A Mindset and a Goal

Text equivalents for images- for people who are blind or who have low visionCaptions for audio (video, etc.)- for people who are deaf and hard of hearingKeyboard vs. mouse functionality- for people with motor skill needs and vision needs

http://terrorism.spcollege.edu/Training/trainingAccessibility.aspx

Just like it is important to include members of the functional needs community in the emergency planning process; it is essential to make sure that education and training for the emergency planning process is accessible to include people with functional needs.

Example of Meeting the NeedsCaptions can also be used for second languages (subtitles in Spanish)Second video could be a images, slide show (PPT) or animation (Flash)

User driven video interface (current prototype in development)DeafLinkThe state of Texas uses DeafLink to provide emergency alerts for Deaf/HH, Spanish speaking consumers

Individuals to receive emergency information from the city, county or state through email, pagers (with text capability), cell phones with text or video capability, and PDAs (with email capability)

ASL, English Voice & Text, Spanish Voice & Text

Kay Chiodo, President, DeafLinkKayChiodo@deaflink.com

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