Eec%ve Advocacy in Emergency Management and

Planning Neil McDevi8

Execu%ve Director, DHCC

Why are we talking about this?

9/11 Hurricane Katrina Superstorm Sandy Wildres

and more widespread disasters are quickly becoming normal due to climate change & other factors.

I get it. So what?

In almost every situa%on, Deaf & hard of hearing people were the most nega%vely impacted.

To be a truly eec%ve advocate

you must know the language that is being spoken.

you must have an apprecia%on for the work that occurs at dierent %mes.

you need to work at the right %me with the right people!

The Emergency Management Cycle

Preparedness

Response

Recovery

Mi%ga%on

Dening the Cycle

Preparedness: Community eorts to build awareness and develop plans to respond to likely disasters

Response: The actual response to the incident. Focuses on immediate life-saving and preven%on of further damage.

Dening the Cycle (2)

Recovery: Various federal, state, local and non-governmental organiza%ons help people recover by providing food, water, funds, and resources.

Mi1ga1on: Refers to improving physical resources to reduce eect of disaster (example: building a levee to prevent ooding).

Who are the players?

Na%onal Local

Local Gov.

State Gov.

NGOs

FEMA

NGOs

Who is responsible?

Local Gov

State Government FEMA/Federal Government

Incident Command System

A standardized management tool that allows uniform capaci%es for small and large disasters alike.

Incident Command

Opera%ons Planning Logis%cs Finance/Admin

Public Informa%on

Ocer Liaison Ocer

Safety ocer

Eec%ve Advocacy Requires:

The Right People:

Remember: FEMA supports the local/state governments. They cannot mandate or require agencies do things certain ways.

Most of advocacy focus will be on state/local Oces of Emergency Management within the ICS structure.

The Right Time:

The %me to be an advocate is during Preparedness and Mi%ga%on periods.

Response and Recovery periods are dictated by the plans that were developed earlier.

Eec%ve Advocacy Requires:

The Right Knowledge:

Knowing the legisla%on, both on federal/state levels will help you tremendously

Using eec%ve language will help you relate easier within EM groups, which are notoriously closed-o to outsiders

The Right Expecta1ons:

Flexibility is required during disasters. Incident sta have to come up with solu%ons on-the-y to resolve problems. We need to help them do that!

What are the hotbu8on issues?

Accessibility of no%ca%ons Lack of interpreters at press/media briengs Lack of accessibility for N-1-1 disaster warning and recovery systems

Lack of accessibility in Disaster Recovery Centers

Need greater involvement in emergency management by D/HH individuals

Lets pick one: Interpreters in Press Briengs

Issue really came to front during Hurricane Sandy in NYC

Parodies: h8ps://youtu.be/nhZmYfxLGJQ

Whats happened since then?

Greater use of interpreters in emergencies: Massachuse8s Philadelphia & Pennsylvania New Jersey New York City Houston

Greater use of Cer%ed Deaf Interpreters

Not without challenges!

h8ps://youtu.be/WDkbxc1OepU?t=7m30s

Discussion:

Does your community use interpreters during press conferences/media briengs?

Using what weve discussed today, who would you approach to advocate for an interpreter in media briengs?

Discussion

How would you handle situa%ons that weve discussed above where the interpreter is not posi%oned correctly?

What other ways can the community help Emergency Managers and other members of the community?

Key Partners

FEMA Oce of Disability Integra%on and Coordina%on - h8ps://www.fema.gov/oce-disability-integra%on-and-coordina%on

NCD Leading federal policy agency providing insight and guidance : h8ps://www.ncd.gov/policy/emergency-management

Whats next?

NADs Emergency Management Expert Group is developing advocacy guides for all of the issues noted here.

Within the next several months, guidance will be released to chapters.

Ques%ons? Discussion?

Neil McDevi8 nmcdevi8@dhcc.org