Free WebCast
Campus Emergency Response and the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Community: Bridging the Communication Gap
June 26, 2008
PRESENTERS:
Neil McDevitt
Neil McDevitt is the Program Director for Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc's (TDI) Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network (CEPIN) project and manages deliveries of its DHS-certified "Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparedness" curriculum. The class is the first of its kind nationwide to focus on the implications of a specific disability population in emergency management and also bring the two groups together in a structured setting.
He is also involved with DHS's Citizen Corps Subcommittee on Disabilities as well as the National Response Plan and National Incident Management System working groups for special needs populations.
As a volunteer firefighter in suburban Philadelphia, McDevitt is one of a handful of emergency responders in the country who are also profoundly deaf. In addition to hands-on fire and rescue experience with the Fire Department of Montgomery Township, he has provided fire safety presentations to deaf children and adults and given non-verbal communication classes to firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians (EMTs).
Mr. McDevitt was originally involved with CEPIN as one of its leading subject matter experts in developing the CEPIN course. In addition, Neil brings 10 years of project management experience as a Senior Information Security Specialist with Prudential.
Ijeoma Agulefo, MPH
As a Health Education Specialist for the Emergency and Risk Communication Branch (ERCB) on the Community Health Outreach and Education Team (CHET) at CDC (October 2006-March 2008), Miss. Agulefo was responsible for implementing behavioral interventions and tailoring messages specific to Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind communities affected by Public health emergencies. She developed and maintained hands-on contact with these communities, as well as state and local public health educators, to ensure that information related to an event is tailored and accessible communication to community members. After her article titled "Emergency Messages for the Deaf" was published on the CDC intranet webpage, CDC staff in Atlanta inquired about learning American Sign Language (ASL) and with the support of Ijeoma's input and suggestions, the "American Sign Language (ASL) Courses Levels 1 and 2," have been selected as part of CDC University's Fiscal Year 2008 training and workforce development activities.
Miss Agulefo also served as a population fellow at the Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) Accra, Ghana, West Africa from Sept 2000-Sept 2002. She provided programmatic and administrative support to the Ghana Field Office and at in-country workshops and meetings in the areas of HIV/AIDS, Family Planning and Child Health. She assisted in all phases of health education campaigns on a national level including research, training, conceptualization, development, project management, monitoring and evaluation. She worked collaboratively with non-governmental and community-based organizations to address their requests for promotional and health communication materials in the areas of HIV/AIDS, Family Planning and Home-Based Care for Malaria.
Currently, Miss Agulefo is on the Clinician Communication Team (CCT) which is also part of ERCB at CDC. She is the CCT/CDC-INFO State liaison with the primary responsibility of outreach to the states regarding assessment of communication surge capacity. She coordinates and conducts outreach to US states and territories for the purposes of determining the appropriate contact person(s) and assessing the current capacity for public and clinician communications during a local, regional, national or global public health emergency.
Miss. Agulefo received her MPH in International Health from Morehouse School of Medicine, MPH Program in Atlanta, Georgia and her BA in Psychology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Jason Altmann
Jason received his B.A. in Social Welfare from University of Wisconsin-Madison and will receive his Masters of Public Administration this fall. Jason is a certified CERT trainer and CEPIN training participant. Jason has experience in consulting and training local emergency responders on how to effectively work with deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing individuals in times of crisis and disaster. Jason is actively involved in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community in raising awareness and importance of emergency and disaster preparedness. Jason currently holds leadership positions at:
- Southeast WI Wisconsin Emergency Preparedness Special Populations Committee
- Community Coalition Committee for Emergency Disaster Preparedness
- Wisconsin State Court Interpreting Advisory Board
- Dept of Health and Family Services' Crisis Intervention Committee
- Independence First's AODA Advisory Board
- State Deaf and Hard of Hearing Transition Advisory Committee
- State Deaf and Hard of Hearing Suicide Prevention Project Committee
- Deaf Bilingual Coalition State Representative
Jason has formerly held positions as Vice-President of Wisconsin Association for the Deaf and Chairperson for Northcentral Technical College's Educational Interpreting Training Program Advisory Board, 2003-2004. He was also a member of Northcentral Technical College's Center for Students with Disabilities Advisory Board, 2003-2004, a member of Governor appointed Council for the Deaf and Hard of hearing, 2002 and a member of Marathon County's Birth to Three Interagency Council, 2003-2004.
Jason was the recipient of Meritious of the Year Award from Wisconsin Association for the Deaf in 2005 for exemplary contributions and services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing people from 2003 to 2005.
MODERATOR:
Cassie Franklin
Cassie Franklin works as a Student Advisor for the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee's (UWM) Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, working with students with hearing loss and assessing their accommodation needs. In addition to her duties at UWM, she also works as an Outreach Specialist for the Postsecondary Education Programs Network - Midwest Region, providing information, resources and technical assistance, along with trainings to high school, colleges and university programs serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. Cassie graduated from UWM with her Social Work degree in 1997, and is currently studying for her Master's degree in the same area. Prior to working at UWM, Cassie advocated for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing as a Specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Human and Family Services and worked as a Child Care Counselor with the Wisconsin School for the Deaf. In her spare time, she continues to volunteer for the Wisconsin Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and the Wisconsin Association for the Deaf.
FACILITATORS:
Michelle Swaney,
Technology Specialist
Amy Hebert,
Outreach Specialist
Summary
This webcast provided participants with information that will bridge the communication gap for both emergency responders and consumers during a campus crisis.
Individuals who will benefit from this archived training are: Deaf Consumers, Hard of Hearing Consumers, Disability Services Providers, secondary and postsecondary professionals, Interpreters, Administrators, VR Counselors and other professionals.
Objectives Included:
- To explain the need to tailor emergency messages to suit individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind.
- To discuss the CDC Emergency and Risk Communication Branch's response to the needs of individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind.
- Rights and Responsibilities of both emergency responders and consumers.
- Making your emergency campus plan accessible to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind.
- Determining the Role of both the deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind Consumer and the Office of Disability Support Services.
- Stages of planning for all types of emergencies for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind.
Webcast Materials
*Please note that in order to view the archive of this webcast, you will need the following:
- a high speed internet connection equal to or greater than broadband.
- An Internet Browser (IE works the best).
- The most up-to-date version of Windows Media Player.
Users who cannot view the video should first contact their campus technology department/support to determine if a firewall is in place that is preventing the display and playback feature of the webcast. Users may also choose to view the video in full-screen mode for a larger picture and captions without the Powerpoint slides by clicking the X button under the bottom right of the video. Please remember that CEU's and Certificates of Participation are not available for the archive version of this webcast.
**MAC USERS**
In order for MAC users/computers to be able to view the Webcast, you will need to download the Silverlight plugin from Microsoft, the plugin download is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/
