Susan L. Ivey|Winston Tseng|Donna Dahrouge|Alina Engelman|Linda Neuhauser|Debbie Huang|Sidhanta Gurung
Assessment of State- and Territorial-Level Preparedness Capacity for Serving Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Populations in Disasters
Research for Action|University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley
objectives substantial evidence exists emergency preparedness response efforts effectively reaching populations functional access needs especially barriers related literacy language culture disabilities 36 million americans deaf hard hearing deafhh groups experienced higher risks injury death property loss recent disasters general public conducted participatory research study examine national recommendations preparedness communication deafhh methods assessed whether previous recommendations regarding deafhh incorporated state territoriallevel emergency operations plans eops interviewed state territoriallevel preparedness directors capacity serve deafhh proposed strategies benefit deafhh populations emergencies analyzed 55 eops 50 key informant ki interviews state directors results fiftyfive percent eops mentioned vulnerable populations however 31 specifically mentioned deafhh populations plan study findings indicated significant relationships among following factors statelevel kis familiarity communication issues deafhh making relay calls ie calls services relay communication deaf hearing people whether kis department provides trainings serving deafhh populations emergencies found significant associations states percentage deafhh individuals kis familiarity deafhh communication issues provision government disability services deafhh populations emergencies found significant relationships kis attending training serving deafhh familiarity deafhh communication issues including make relay calls conclusion study provides new knowledge help emergency agencies improve preparedness training planning capacity serve deafhh populations emergencies