Emergency Preparedness with People Who Sign: Toward the whole community approach

Authors

  • Jody H. Cripps, PhD
  • Sheryl B. Cooper, PhD
  • Elizabeth N. Austin, PhD, MA, RN, CEN

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2016.0277

Keywords:

emergency preparedness, deaf people, service learning, first responder, sign language

Abstract

The concept of the “whole community” involves including everyone in the community in preparing for emergencies, including members of often-overlooked groups. Deaf people who sign are one example of this type of group. An innovative model based on the whole community approach, Emergency Preparedness with People Who Sign (EPPS), is introduced in this article. This model focuses on members of the deaf community directly training first responders using a variety of techniques for effective communication and cultural understanding to achieve safety for all. This model was developed and field tested by a university Deaf Studies program through student service-learning activities and faculty involvement including on-site role-playing. Through the reciprocal awareness training for both professionals and community members, deaf individuals become actively empowered to participate in developing culturally and linguistically sensitive public safety services. Response to the concurrent training of first responders and deaf community members has been positive, and it is hoped that this model can be replicated with deaf people and first responders in other locations, as well as with other often-overlooked groups.

Author Biographies

Jody H. Cripps, PhD

Department of Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology & Deaf Studies, Towson University, Towson, Maryland.

Sheryl B. Cooper, PhD

Department of Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology & Deaf Studies, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

Elizabeth N. Austin, PhD, MA, RN, CEN

Department of Nursing, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

References

Federal Emergency Management Agency: National Preparedness Goal. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security, 2011.

Chua AYK, Kaynak S, Foo SSB: An analysis of the delayed response to Hurricane Katrina through the lens of knowledge management. J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol. 2007; 58: 391-403.

Dyson ME: Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. New York: Basic Civitas, 2005.

Klima E, Bellugi U: The Signs of Language. Boston: Harvard University Press, 1979.

Sandler W, Lillo-Martin D: Sign Language and Linguistic Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Stokoe WC. Sign Language Structure: An Outline of the Visual Communication Systems of the American Deaf, Studies in Linguistics: Occasional Papers (No. 8). Buffalo: Department of Anthropology and Linguistics, University of Buffalo, 1960.

Valli C, Lucas C, Mulrooney K, et al.: Linguistics of American Sign Language. 5th ed. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press, 2011.

Wilbur RB: American Sign Language and Sign System. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1979.

Berkay PJ, Gardner JE, Smith PL: The development of the opinions about deaf people scale: A scale to measure hearing adults' beliefs about the capabilities of deaf adults. Educ Psychol Meas. 1995; 55: 105-114.

Harmer LM: Health care delivery and deaf people: Practice, problems, and recommendations for change. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 1999; 4: 73-109.

Ralston E, Zazove P, Gorenflo DW: Physicians' attitudes and beliefs about deaf patients. J Am Board Fam Pract. 1996; 9: 167-173.

Stebnicki JAM, Coeling HV: The culture of the deaf. J Transcult Nurs. 1999; 10: 350-357.

Cripps JH, Supalla SJ: The power of spoken language in schools and deaf students who sign. Int J Hum Soc Sci. 2012; 2: 86-102.

World Association of Sign Language Interpreters & World Federation of the Deaf: Communication During Natural Disasters and Other Mass Emergencies for Deaf People Who Use Signed Language. Collingwood & Helsinki: World Association of Sign Language Interpreters & World Federation of the Deaf, 2015.

Federal Emergency Management Agency: A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management: Principles, Themes, and Pathways for Action. FDOC 104-008-1. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security, 2011.

Federal Emergency Management Agency: Whole Community page. Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site. 2015. Available at http://www.fema.gov/whole-community. Accessed March 5, 2015.

Mitchell RE: How many deaf people are there in the United States?. Estimates from the survey of income and program participation. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2006; 11: 112-119.

Padden CA: The deaf community and the culture of the deaf people. In Baker C, Battison R (eds.): Sign Language and the Deaf Community. Silver Spring: National Association of the Deaf, 1980: 89-103.

Charrow VR, Wilbur RB: The deaf child as a linguistic minority. In Wilcox S (ed.): American Deaf Culture: An Anthology. Silver Spring: Linstok Press, 1989: 103-155.

Johnston RE, Erting C: Ethnicity and socialization in a classroom for deaf children. In Lucas C, Valli C (eds.): Sociolinguistics of the Deaf Community. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1989: 41-83.

Padden C, Humphries T: Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988.

Reagan T: The deaf as linguistic minority: Education considerations. Harvard Educ Rev. 1985; 55: 265-277.

Reagan T: A sociocultural understanding of deafness: American Sign Language and the culture of deaf people. Int J Intercult Relat. 1995; 19: 239-251.

Rutherford SD: The culture of American deaf people. Sign Lang Stud. 1988; 59: 129-147.

Bahan B, Poole-Nash JC: The formation of signing communities. Perspectives from Martha's Vineyard. In Mann J (ed.): Deaf Studies IV Conference Proceedings. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University, 1996: 1-26.

Barnett S: Communication with deaf and hard-of-hearing people: A guide for medical education. Acad Med. 2002; 77: 694-700.

Dodd B, Campbell R: Hearing by Eye: The Psychology of Lip-Reading. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1987.

Harris M, Moreno C: Speech reading and learning to read: A comparison of 8-year-old profoundly deaf children with good and poor reading ability. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2006; 11: 189-201.

Picou EM, Ricketts TA, Hornsby BWY: Visual cues and listening effort: Individual variability. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2011; 54: 1416-1430.

Nielsen-Bohlman L, Panzer AM, Hamlin B, et al.: Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. Washington, DC: The National Academic Press, 2004.

Nutbeam D: Health literacy as a public health goal: A challenge for contemporary health education and communication strategies into the 21st century. Health Promot Int. 2000; 15: 259-267.

Davis EA, Hansen R, Mincin S: Vulnerable populations and public health disaster preparedness. In Reilly MJ, Markenson DS (eds.): Health Care Emergency Management Principles and Practices. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett, 2011: 371-400.

Kailes JL, Enders A: Moving beyond “special needs”: A function-based framework for emergency management and planning. J Disabil Policy Stud. 2007; 17: 230-237.

Limmer D, O'Keefe MF: Emergency Care. 12th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2012.

Davis EA, Hansen R, Kushma J, et al.: Identifying and accommodating high-risk, high-vulnerability populations in disasters. In Veenema TG (ed.): Disaster Nursing and Emergency Preparedness for Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Terrorism and Other Hazards. New York: Springer, 2013: 520-541.

Lane H: Construction of deafness. In Davis LJ (ed.): The Disability Reader. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2010: 153-171.

Supalla SJ, Small A, Cripps JS: American Sign Language for Everyone: Considerations for Universal Design and Deaf Youth Identity. Monograph Series 2. Toronto: Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf & Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research, 2013.

Marschark M, Humphries T: Deaf studies by any other name? J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2010; 15: 1-2.

Cooper SB, Cripps JH: Service-learning: Deaf studies in the community. In Delano-Oriaran O, Penick-Parks MW, Fondrie S (eds.): Service-Learning and Civic Engagement. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2015: 287-294.

Cripps JH, Cooper SB: Service-learning in deaf studies: Integrating academia and deaf community. J Am Deafness Rehabil Assoc. 2012; 46: 354-368.

Austin EN, Bastepe-Gray SE, Nelson HW, et al.: Pediatric mass-casualty education: Experiential learning through university-sponsored disaster simulation. J Emerg Nurs. 2014; 40: 428-433.

Austin EN, Hannafin NM, Nelson HW: Pediatric disaster simulation in graduate and undergraduate nursing education. J Pediatr Nurs. 2013; 28: 393-399.

North Carolina Office on Disability and Health: Removing Barriers to Health Care. Chapel Hill: North Carolina Office on Disability and Health & The Center for Universal Design, 2007.

Bauman H-DL: Audism: Exploring the metaphysics of oppression. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2004; 9: 239-246.

Eckert RC, Rowley AJ: Audism: A theory and practice of audio-centric privilege. Hum Soc. 2013; 37: 101-130.

American Red Cross/National Technology of the Deaf: Disaster Preparedness and the Deaf Community: For the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Latened Deaf. Rochester: American Red Cross, 2005.

Allen TE: Patterns of academic achievement among hearing impaired students: 1974-1983. In Shildroth AH, Karchmer MA (eds.): Deaf Children in America. San Diego: College Hill Press, 1986: 161-206.

Holt JA: Classroom attributes and achievement test scores for deaf and hard of hearing students. Am Ann Deaf. 1994; 139: 430-437.

Holt JA: Stanford Achievement Test—8th Edition for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students: Reading Comprehension Subgroup Results. Washington DC: Center for Assessment and Demographic Studies, Gallaudet University, 1997.

Traxler CB: The Stanford Achievement Test, 9th edition: National norming and performance standards for deaf and hard of hearing students. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2000; 5: 337-348.

Musselman C: How do children who can't hear learn to read an alphabetic script?. A review of the literature on reading and deafness. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2000; 5: 9-31.

Padden C, Ramsey C: Reading ability in signing deaf children. Top Lang Disord. 1998; 18: 30-46.

Paul PV, Quigley S: Using American Sign Language to teach English. In McAnally PL, Rose S, Quigley S (eds.): Language Learning Practices with Deaf Children. Boston: College-Hill Press, 1987: 139-166.

Published

03/01/2016

How to Cite

Cripps, PhD, J. H., S. B. Cooper, PhD, and E. N. Austin, PhD, MA, RN, CEN. “Emergency Preparedness With People Who Sign: Toward the Whole Community Approach”. Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 14, no. 2, Mar. 2016, pp. 101-1, doi:10.5055/jem.2016.0277.