Emergency Preparedness
To refer others to this page, please use:
http://www.nad.org/emergencyprep
 During an emergency, television programming is often interrupted or announcement scroll across the screen in order to inform viewers of the situation. The Emergency Preparedness pages, under the Legal Rights section of the NAD website includes information about making televised warnings and reports during a crisis or emergency situation accessible to deaf and hard of hearing viewers, as mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
When a tornado, an earthquake, a hurricane, a flood, a forest fire, a grass fire or a spill of dangerous chemicals hits a community, how do people find out what to do? In an emergency, people get information from a variety of sources:
Deaf and hard of hearing people have very limited access to these critical weather and emergency information sources. In an emergency, deaf and hard of hearing people experience fear and frustration. They may make poor safety decisions since they are uninformed about the nature or scope of the emergency.
The NAD believes that many broadcasters and public emergency management agencies are not aware of their legal responsibilities to modify their information procedures. New techniques and technology are available to help make sure that deaf or hard of hearing people know about emergencies, and how to respond.
Acknowledgements
The NAD would like to thank the following experts, who have promoted expansion of existing warning systems to deaf and hard of hearing people. They have provided valuable information about weather warning systems, and continue to make improvements on the emergency notification systems available:
Vincent T. Wood, Meteorologist
National Severe Storms Laboratory
1313 Halley Circle
Norman, Oklahoma 73069-8480
PHONE: (405) 366-0402 (Voice)
(405) 366-0466 (TTY/TDD)
FAX: (405) 366-0472
E-MAIL: wood@nssl.noaa.gov
URL: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~wood or http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/staff/wood.html
Dr. Robert Weisman
MS 48
Earth Sciences Department
720 Fourth Avenue South
Saint Cloud, MN 56301-4498
Phone: (320) 255-3247 (V)
TTY via Relay: (800) 627-3529
FAX: (320) 255-4262
Email: scsweisman@stcloudstate.edu
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