"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive." Anaïs Nin


Need to change text size? Click one of these:
Small Medium Large Larger Largest

Want to read this post later? Send it to your Kindle reader:

Send to Kindle

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Deaf Eye: Do Emergency Warnings Catch Yours?

We need your help.

On November 9, 2011, FEMA is conducting a national alert test. One of the concerns FEMA has is how to reach and inform citizens who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Stephanie Jo Kent, an activist and researcher ( http://www.reflexivity.us/wp/ )  has asked us to help test the efficiency of Twitter and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community during the time FEMA airs the alert nationally.

We will be using the hashtag #demx to conduct this experiment. If you have a Twitter account, please join us in this test. Be sure to turn on your GPS. It's imperative we participate in order to show First Responders and Emergency Agencies that we are an active community and we use social media to spread news and to gather news. This will help our community to be notified and  included in events in the future. It could save a life, possibly yours.

There are two items below with more information, the FEMA video and a vlog by TDI





Here is a little more info about the nation wide test FEMA is conducting Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 2:00 pm EST:

As part of their ongoing efforts to keep our country and communities safe during emergencies, the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Emergency Management Agency will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS test plays a key role in ensuring the nation is prepared for all hazards, and that the U.S. public can receive critical and vital information, should it ever be needed.  The first nationwide test will be conducted Wednesday, November 9 at 2 p.m. ET.  This test may last up to three and a half minutes, and will be transmitted via television and radio stations within the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. Similar to local emergency alert system tests, an audio message will interrupt television and radio programming indicating: “This is a test.” When the test is over, regular programming will resume. 





http://www.fema.gov/medialibrary/media_records/6407

2 comments:

  1. Great post Joyce!

    More information on this research project is available at Deaf Teach-to-Tweet Emergency Responders.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Stephanie Jo. I will be posting and tweeting your your post as well. :-)

    ReplyDelete