Communication

Communication / Accessible Information

Practice: Accessible communication regarding preparedness tips for several disaster types for Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and Podcast.

Location: Any local community

Brief Description: CDC has posted PSAs and Podcasts for use to provide timely messages about personal preparedness during natural disasters and public health emergencies. CDC Podcast subscriptions and Podcast help provided.

Contact Information:
Website: http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/psa/


Communication / Accessible Information

Practice: Accessible communication regarding hurricane preparedness materials.

Location: Cameron County, Texas

Brief Description: Disaster-related preparation information, e.g., Evacuation and Special Needs is provided in audio formats, text, and pre-recorded American Sign Language interpretation for deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired.

Contact Information:
Cameron County Emergency Management
Voice and TDD: (956) 547-7000
Website: http://www.co.cameron.tx.us/emergency/deaflink.htm


Communication / Accessible Information

Practice: Mutually respectful relationships with vulnerable populations and the organizations that serve them have resulted in a series of emergency-preparation materials.

Location: King County, Washington

Brief Description: A variety of agency emergency preparation materials in subjects related to go-to kits, childcare, etc. are available in English, Cambodian, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Contact Information:
Public Health
401 5th Ave., Suite 1300
Seattle, WA 98104
Voice: (206) 296-4600; TTY Relay: 711
Toll-free: (800) 325-6165
Website:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/VPAT/tools.aspx


Communication / Accessible Information

Practice: Accessible disaster preparedness communication.

Location: Any county; Northeast Texas Public Health District

Brief Description: 18 emergency preparedness topics (preparedness, first aid, chemical emergences, infectious diseases, earthquakes, food safety, animal hazards, landslides, nuclear events, shelters, terrorism, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, and other emergency concerns) and formatted for individuals who are deaf/hard of hearing or have visual impairments.

Contact Information:
Harold Higgins, Deputy Director Public health Preparedness
815 N. Broadway Ave.
P.O. Box 2039
Tyler, TX 75710
Voice and TDD: (903) 595-1350
Email: harold.higgins@talho.org
Website: http://www.accessibleemergencyinfo.com



Communication / Accessible Information / Disability Etiquette

Practice: Guidelines for better communication with people with disabilities with one-on-one, using print materials, in group setting and using website pages.

Location: Any local community

Brief Description: Communication strategies developed by the Iowa IANET Taskforce.

Contact Information:
Guide: http://www.idph.state.ia.us/bh/ianet_guide1.asp



Communication / Alerts / Warning

Practice: Notification of an emergency or weather alert by e-mail, cell phone, or pager from local, regional, and national sources.

Location: Any county in United States

Brief Description: A national community service since 1999, this free public service issues emergency notices regarding weather, disasters, health, finance, and homeland security around the clock.

Contact Information:
Via website
Website:
http://www.emergencyemail.org/Default.asp

Resources

Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Communication Access Lessons Learned Since 9/11 and Recommendations
http://www.nvrc.org/MediaLibrary
/DHHCANEmergencyReport.pdf

Prepared by the Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons, this report points out that sirens, shouted warnings, and other communication tactics used during an emergency often don’t work for people who are hard of hearing or deaf and lists recommendations to increase the number and variety of communication options for this population.


Resources

The Impact of 2003 Wildfires on People with Disabilities prepared by the State Independent Living Council of California
http://nobodyleftbehind2.org/resources/pdf/
impact_of_2003_ca_wildfires_4-30-04.pdf

This report lists recommendations for improving the accessibility of emergency notifications and evacuation orders, and making communications at shelters accessible to people with disabilities. The document also contains general recommendations for improving services to people with disabilities during a disaster, especially in the areas of evacuation and sheltering.



Communication / Call Center

Douglas County Emergency Information Center

Practice: The Douglas County Emergency Information Center is a county-wide call center administered by the local public library to receive non-emergency calls during a disaster or emergency event and to provide preparedness information.
Location: Douglas County, Kansas

Brief Description and Contact Information: See best of the best practice sites

Communication / Call Center

Practice: Adaptable model for community call centers to support home-management and shelter-in-place approaches in mass casualty or public health emergency event.

Location: Denver, Colorado

Brief Description: To ready for emergencies, Health Emergency Line for the Public provides public information such as medication locations and answers to frequently-asked questions for callers using touch-tone phones during a public emergency.

Contact Information:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
540 Gaither Road
Rockville, MD 20850
Voice and TDD: (301) 427-1364
Website: http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/callcenters/


Communication / Call Center

Practice: Toolkit titled, Hello, how my I help you? - Creating and operating a Public Information Call Center to assist public health departments to handle a surge in phone calls during an emergency.

Location: Any county; King County, Washington

Brief Description: A planning guide, this step-by-step toolkit includes examples of useful forms. Sample worksheets include Incident Command System staffing structure, job card, external surge support provider list, call data comparison chart, site profile chart, room phone line list, operator log, individual call sheets, referral guide, and post-event evaluation.

Contact Information:
Seattle - King County Advanced Practice Center
401 5th Ave., Suite 1300
Seattle, WA 98104
Voice and TDD: (206) 296-4600
Website:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/apc.aspx


Resources

Managing Calls and Call Centers during a Large-Scale Influenza Outbreak http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/callcenters.htm
Because community 9-1-1 and healthcare systems may be overwhelmed during a large-scale influenza outbreak experience, this Centers for Disease Control-sponsored guide describes an adaptable process involving collaboration and shared objectives to best use current resources during times of emergency.



Communication / Disability Etiquette

Practice: Guidelines for better communication with people with disabilities one-on-one, using print materials, in group setting and using website pages.

Location: Any local community

Brief Description: Communication strategies developed by the Iowa IANET Taskforce.

Contact Information:
Website: http://www.idph.state.ia.us/bh/ianet_guide1.asp


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