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

Mi%ga%on

Response

Recovery

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

NGOs
FEMA

Local
NGO
s
State
Gov.
Local

Gov.

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

Public
Informa%on
Ocer

Liaison Ocer

Safety ocer

Opera%ons

Planning

Logis%cs

Finance/Admin

Eec%ve Advocacy Requires:

The Right People:

The Right Time:

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 %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

The Right Expecta1ons:

Flexibility is required during

disasters. Incident sta
have to come up with
solu%ons on-the-y to
resolve problems. We
Using eec%ve language will
need to help them do that!
help you relate easier
within EM groups, which
are notoriously closed-o to
outsiders

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