In October, Andy Perlman, CEPIN’s Acting Program Director, addressed the Iowa Partners in Preparedness Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Rocky Mountain Access and Functional Needs Conference in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. He spoke about Accessible Emergency Communications and Emergency Management’s Use of Social Media.  Topics included communication barriers faced by deaf, hard of hearing and other often-overlooked communities, as well as the use of social media in emergency management’s outreach to the community at large. 

Perlman said “Twitter and Facebook are excellent ways for emergency services like fire departments to build relationships with communities they wouldn’t typically come into contact with on a daily basis”.  He pointed out that the Los Angeles Fire Department built bridges with the Korean community via Facebook, and when a large fire occurred in Koreatown, the residents were able to follow instructions and get current information from a source they already trusted.  Perlman went further and said “Social media is the 4th most popular way for people to receive emergency notifications these days.  This was evident during the tornadoes in Alabama and Mississippi over the past year.”  During the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Twitter and Facebook were used extensively not only to inform the public but to receive requests for assistance.  “Facebook and Twitter are great ways to communicate with the deaf and hard of hearing as they are inherently accessible” Perlman continued.  

To see the presentation click http://www.cepintdi.org/newsroom/presentations. For more information about disaster preparedness for the deaf and hard of hearing, contact aperlman@cepintdi.org .