Smoke Alarms for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Seattle Residents

Free strobe smoke alarm

The Seattle Fire Department is providing and installing Gentex strobe smoke alarms that plug into an outlet. There is no cost for the smoke alarm or installation. A working smoke alarm is known to reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by 50%. The Seattle Fire Department is requesting your assistance in getting the word out to help make Seattle residents who are deaf or hard of hearing safer, should they experience a fire at home. 

To qualify, a person must be Deaf or Hard of Hearing and live in Seattle. Renters need permission from landlords before they can be installed.

Any Seattle resident who might be interested in a free Deaf/HOH smoke alarm, should contact Seattle Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division.
 

Personal Preparedness for AT Users

There is a lot to say about personal preparedness in emergencies but the messages all boil down to the same theme: plan ahead. In our recent webinar, Personal Preparedness for AT Users, we shared tips and resources from different organizations on general preparedness as well as tips for people with various AT needs. We would like to share some additional information resources that wasn't covered in the webinar. The following two links to disabilitypreparedness.gov are resources for Personal Communication Technology for Emergencies as well as Assistive Technology for Emergencies which include FCC fact sheets on communication during emergencies.

A participant of the webinar was kind enough to email us some additional resources from here in Washington State to national resources. Sight Connection has a Public Information Series including a fact sheet on Preparedness for People with Vision Impairment. Resources for seniors and people with disabilities can be found on the Red Cross website and FEMA has fact sheets to assist with preparing for disasters for people with disabilities and other special needs.

These sites can help with anything from general awareness and education about preparing for disasters to specific topics by functional need. Regardless of functional need, with education and preparation we can help energize each other and our communities to be prepared and safe in any emergency. If you have additional resources to share please post them in the comments. 

Preparing Yourself and Your AT in an Emergency:

Join us and the Washington Access Fund on Thursday, February 9th at 10:00am for a free webinar on emergency preparedness. If a disaster struck, either large or small, how prepared would you feel? What would you do with your assistive technology and how would you replace it if it were lost? Learn simple steps you can take to prepare yourself and your assistive technology in case of an emergency. Find out about resources available, ways people can receive communication before and during an emergency and the importance of thinking ahead. There’s no time like now to be prepared for the unexpected.

For more information and to register, send an email to Leann at leann@washingtonaccessfund.org or give us a call at (206) 328-5116. We're looking forward to having you join the discussion!

Post-Test Survey: National Test of Emergency Alert System

On November 9, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission conducted a national test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) over television and radio. The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC) is conducting a survey of people with visual and hearing impairment in order to understand the effectiveness and accessibility of EAS.
Please take a few minutes to complete the post-EAS-test survey.

The survey can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Post-EAS-Test
If you need assistance completing the survey, please contact Salimah LaForce at 404-894-8297 or salimah.laforce@cacp.gatech.edu.

All participants will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card. The drawing will be held on November 15, 2011; the winner will be contacted privately.

Accessible 911 Emergency Services Survey

The FCC's Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) released a national on-line survey to determine the most effective and efficient technologies and methods by which persons with disabilities may access Next Generation 9-1-1 emergency services systems. Among other things, the survey asks about accessing emergency services via video, text, and voice. The results of the survey will inform the EAAC as it develops recommendations for the FCC to draft rules to ensure that people with disabilities can access NG 9-1-1 services. The survey is available in English, Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL video).
This survey will be available until April 24, 2011. People with disabilities are encouraged to complete this survey, and share it with other people with disabilities and organizations that represent persons with disabilities.

Survey in English and ASL:
http://fcc.eaac.sgizmo.com/s3
Survey in Spanish:
http://fcc.eaac-es.sgizmo.com/s3