Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
http://www.sulphurdailynews.com/articles/2008/06/01/news/news4.txt
In making ready for hurricane season, the Department of Social Services’ Louisiana Rehabilitation Services (LRS) is partnering with a local nonprofit organization to provide emergency-response assistance to an estimated 400 deaf-blind citizens.
To aid with evacuations and emergency-preparedness training, the Louisiana Commission for the Deaf, a component of LRS, has partnered with the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Deaf Center in Baton Rouge to establish and maintain an updated registry of citizens with deaf-blindness.
Currently, 115 individuals are listed on the registry.
Louisiana long has been recognized as having the greatest number of deaf-blind individuals in the United States, partly because of the genetic predisposition among Acadian settlers toward Usher’s syndrome, which includes several variations of deafness and blindness.
An estimated 400 deaf-blind people live in Louisiana, with approximately 40 percent located in Lafayette, 25 percent in Baton Rouge, 10 percent in Ascension Parish and the remaining throughout the state.
Naomi DeDual, executive director for LCD, said, “In the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Department of Social Services, as lead state agency for Emergency Support Function 6: Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Housing and Human Services, recognized a need to provide evacuation assistance to this population.”
In response to this need, DeDual said the registry was created to enable deaf-blind citizens to receive the following evacuation assistance:
# An evacuation plan for each deaf-blind individual, including contact information,
transportation needs and other critical information.
# With permission, these evacuation plans will be made available to DSS and to parish emergency operations centers for emergency shelter planning.
# A backpack with a change of clothing, medical information, insurance cards, medicine and other necessary items.
# A designated contact person (family member, friend, neighbor or volunteer), who will notify the deaf-blind individual of a pending evacuation and recommend activation of their personal plans.
# Once an evacuation is called, DSS will identify and coordinate a shelter in north Louisiana for deaf-blind individuals.
# At the designated shelter, the St. Francis de Sales Center will provide interpreting services and Support Service Providers (SSP) to each deaf-blind individual.
# Interpreters will use the American Sign Language, as tactile interpreting is the most
common form of communication for deaf-blind individuals.
Dawn Melendez, interpreter coordinator in charge of emergency preparedness training at the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Deaf Center, said this is a model program for the United States.
“The state’s emergency-response plan for deaf-blind individuals is the first of its kind in this country,” she said. “No other state has attempted to locate, train and implement a disaster preparedness program for its deaf-blind citizens.”
Melendez said during last hurricane season, the deaf center and LCD hosted a workshop designed to heighten preparedness awareness between first responders and the deaf-blind community.
The workshop was sponsored by the Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network, a national network of organizations, providers and individuals who train emergency responders and deaf and hard-of-hearing persons.
Training at the workshop focused on teaching first responders how to communicate with the deaf and hard-of-hearing, in addition to instructing the deaf and hard-of-hearing on how to prepare for an emergency. The training program was developed through the LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Training Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education.
For more information about deaf-blind emergency preparedness or to be listed on the registry,please contact Naomi DeDual at (225) 219-2996 or via e-mail at ndedual@dss.state.la.us.
In making ready for hurricane season, the Department of Social Services’ Louisiana Rehabilitation Services (LRS) is partnering with a local nonprofit organization to provide emergency-response assistance to an estimated 400 deaf-blind citizens.
To aid with evacuations and emergency-preparedness training, the Louisiana Commission for the Deaf, a component of LRS, has partnered with the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Deaf Center in Baton Rouge to establish and maintain an updated registry of citizens with deaf-blindness.
Currently, 115 individuals are listed on the registry.
Louisiana long has been recognized as having the greatest number of deaf-blind individuals in the United States, partly because of the genetic predisposition among Acadian settlers toward Usher’s syndrome, which includes several variations of deafness and blindness.
An estimated 400 deaf-blind people live in Louisiana, with approximately 40 percent located in Lafayette, 25 percent in Baton Rouge, 10 percent in Ascension Parish and the remaining throughout the state.
Naomi DeDual, executive director for LCD, said, “In the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Department of Social Services, as lead state agency for Emergency Support Function 6: Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Housing and Human Services, recognized a need to provide evacuation assistance to this population.”
In response to this need, DeDual said the registry was created to enable deaf-blind citizens to receive the following evacuation assistance:
# An evacuation plan for each deaf-blind individual, including contact information,
transportation needs and other critical information.
# With permission, these evacuation plans will be made available to DSS and to parish emergency operations centers for emergency shelter planning.
# A backpack with a change of clothing, medical information, insurance cards, medicine and other necessary items.
# A designated contact person (family member, friend, neighbor or volunteer), who will notify the deaf-blind individual of a pending evacuation and recommend activation of their personal plans.
# Once an evacuation is called, DSS will identify and coordinate a shelter in north Louisiana for deaf-blind individuals.
# At the designated shelter, the St. Francis de Sales Center will provide interpreting services and Support Service Providers (SSP) to each deaf-blind individual.
# Interpreters will use the American Sign Language, as tactile interpreting is the most
common form of communication for deaf-blind individuals.
Dawn Melendez, interpreter coordinator in charge of emergency preparedness training at the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Deaf Center, said this is a model program for the United States.
“The state’s emergency-response plan for deaf-blind individuals is the first of its kind in this country,” she said. “No other state has attempted to locate, train and implement a disaster preparedness program for its deaf-blind citizens.”
Melendez said during last hurricane season, the deaf center and LCD hosted a workshop designed to heighten preparedness awareness between first responders and the deaf-blind community.
The workshop was sponsored by the Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network, a national network of organizations, providers and individuals who train emergency responders and deaf and hard-of-hearing persons.
Training at the workshop focused on teaching first responders how to communicate with the deaf and hard-of-hearing, in addition to instructing the deaf and hard-of-hearing on how to prepare for an emergency. The training program was developed through the LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Training Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education.
For more information about deaf-blind emergency preparedness or to be listed on the registry,please contact Naomi DeDual at (225) 219-2996 or via e-mail at ndedual@dss.state.la.us.