In the aftermath of the 2005 Hurricane Season a number of gaps were identified in services provided to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) community. These included a need for interpreters, disaster responders and mental health professionals proficient in American Sign Language (ASL) at shelters and service centers, and a lack of procedures to identify the disaster-related needs of the D/HH community. As the National Capital Region (NCR) has a large Deaf and Hard of Hearing population it was important for the local Red Cross Chapter to connect with a renowned local institution, such as Gallaudet University, to see how we could work together to address some of these roadblocks.

In 2009 Dr. Martha Sheridan reached out to the Chapter to work with her Master’s Social Work class, Macro Interventions for Deaf & Hard of Hearing People. Staff and volunteers from the Emergency & International Services (EIS) Department worked with small groups from the class to identify potential projects and work together to bring them to fruition. Over the first two years, the students prepared and presented a Community Disaster Education (CDE) presentation in ASL for their peers to raise awareness about the importance of being prepared for a disaster, gave a presentation in ASL at a regional meeting of Red Cross Disaster instructors on how to instruct a class that has hearing and Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing students, gave a presentation to the Emergency and International Services (EIS) Department on how to work with volunteers who are from the D/HH community and how to work with clients who are Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing and held a pilot Disaster Action Team (DAT) Camp in ASL on the Gallaudet campus, training members of the D/HH community as Disaster responders and giving them an opportunity to review the course materials and identify how to make them more “Deaf friendly” for future classes.

In fall 2011 Jennifer Kurtinitis (ARC staff) and Jennifer Fraser Taylor (volunteer) worked with Dr. Sheridan and MSW candidates: Marissa Graff, Eleanor Jailer-Coley, Amber LaForce, Erin Ortiz, Michelle Plewes, Doug Slaunwhite and Kecia Williams. In addition, Red Cross volunteer and Gallaudet alumni, Sylvie Marc-Charles joined the planning group. During introductions on the first day of class, the students went around and shared basics such as their name, where they were from and also included whether or not they had experienced a disaster before. It was interesting to hear the mix of stories about what they experienced as a member of the D/HH community living through a disaster. The introductory stories stimulated a discussion about the issues and encouraged the students to start thinking about how to work on them.

With such a large group it made sense to divide into 3 smaller groups, each focusing on a specific issue. Marissa, Amber and Erin designed a campaign to recruit bi-lingual English and ASL speakers to assist with the Chapter’s Language Bank, which helps with translation during an emergency. The three also wrote, starred in and edited a video for Red Cross instructors and Disaster volunteers on how to work with a student or client who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing both when an interpreter is present and when they are not. The film included sage advice such as “Don’t scream, we can’t hear you.”

Eleanor and Doug decided to focus on emergency notification systems. Traditional notification systems, such as sirens or a National Weather Service radio broadcast are ineffective means to notify a person who cannot hear. The National Capital Region has a website called Capital Alert containing links to notification systems for each county (or city) within the NCR. Eleanor and Doug took this list and went one step further, highlighting what these notification systems are and how they can benefit someone who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing by sending a text or an email with information that a shelter has been opened or there is a tornado warning.

Lastly, Michelle and Kecia focused on preparedness outreach to community using our 3 Steps disaster preparedness message: Get a Kit, Make a Plan and Be Informed. The created an easy to read brochure and formatted the wording to best support a reader whose first language is ASL (as opposed to English). In addition, they wrote, starred in and edited a video that follows the same message as the brochure by reviewing the 3 Steps and displaying items to include in a disaster kit.

Only having one semester to work on these projects creates a time limitation for the students. There is only so much they can accomplish in three months and therefore as part of their work, they created a list of recommendations to help next year’s class pick up where they left off. These include:

- Follow up on the Language Bank recruitment to see if it is working and how we might be able to recruit additional volunteers.

- Review the Red Cross basic disaster course materials to identify ways to make the training more Deaf friendly and help recruit volunteers from the D/HH community.

- Share these tools with local emergency management agencies as well as organizations in the D/HH community to ensure the preparedness message reaches the community.

It should be noted that the intent of this program is not to create work just for the sake of a project. Students, Gallaudet faculty, and ARC staff and volunteers all believe in this program and in creating tools that can be used by the Red Cross and the University. The brochures, videos and database can all be found on our Chapter website at www.redcrossnca.org.

Jennifer Kurtinitis, ARC Emergency Response Coordinator, said, “After two years of working with this program, the Gallaudet students continually impress me with, among other things, their dedication and energy. While this is a school assignment the students truly believe in what we are doing and in making a difference in the community. Despite having other classes and assignments to focus on, they continually give 110% on this effort. Such energy helps keep this partnership going by building enthusiasm for future students to continue working with the Red Cross and it inspires me as well. The partnership with Gallaudet University has been a fantastic opportunity for the Red Cross to help promote disaster preparedness within the D/HH community. We look forward to working with Dr. Sheridan and her students next fall!”

From left to right: Dr. Martha Sheridan, Sylvie Marc-Charles, Douglas Slaunwhite, Eleanor Jailer-Coley, Kecia Williams, Michelle Plewes, Erin Ortiz, Amber LaForce, Marissa Graff, and Jennifer Kurtinitis