Deaf Task Force NYC

Deaf Task Force New York City (DTFNYC)

and

New York City Civil Association of the Deaf (NYCCAD)

Presents

Holiday Travel: Are you prepared for the changes in Travel?

Things you should know:

Travel Tips

Safety Tips

Travel Information

“3-1-1″ Guideline for Carry-on

Traffic Reports

and

the list goes on…

Happy Traveling

with your Family, Friends, and the Love one

New York University

Silver Building, Room 404

31 Washington Place

New York, NY 10003

Friday, December 7th, 2007

6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Directions:

Driving Direction: Mapquest.com

Subway and Bus Directions: Hopstop.com

Deaf Task Force New York City (DTFNYC)

Presents

Town Hall Meeting

 Agendas:

MTA Emergency Call Box: Does it works for you?

 What you did response when the police stops you?

What do you want for the city do something for your deafness?

 and much more…..

Come and Join us

Friday, June 29, 2007

 6 pm to 9 pm

St. Elizabeth’s Church

 211 East 83 Street

 (Between 2nd and 3rd Ave.)

 New York. NY 10028

 (Subway Station: 86 St

 Train # 4, 5, & 6)

Directions:

 Driving Direction: Mapquest.com

Subway and Bus Direction: Hopstop.com

To receiving the DTFNYC Newsletters and Announcements,

Please send blank email to dtfnyc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To learn more about our short and long term plan of actions, we have reports available for those request them.

 It will be also posted on our blog: deaftaskforce.wordpress.com

For more information,

 contact us at dtfnyc.publicaccess@gmail.com

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Christina Curry <cexec@hilc.org>
> Date: March 12, 2007 3:57:00 PM PST
> Subject: Area Hospitals/Please respond
>
>
> Greetings to you all.
>
> Need your assistance as usual….
>
> As you might have heard by now, Harlem ILC is working with an  outside
> agency regarding hospitals that are not providing effective
> communication for the Deaf, HOH community (this is different from  what
> DHIS is spearheading).
>
> With that said, HILC is in the process of compiling a list of all  the
> hospitals in the five boroughs (or as many as possible) that do  not
> have any interpreters, the hospitals that have at least one and  so
> on…
>
> According to the hospitals we’ve called..as of now everyone is
> compliant and has an interpreter on call… that is why I am asking
> each of you to tell me what the hospitals are not…
>
> I thank all of you for whatever information you can provide…just
> need to know the name of the hospital and if they in fact have a  live
> person or at the very least have been known to call an outside
> agency…
>
> Christina Curry/Harlem ILC

DTFNYC Leader’s note: Please send the information to Christina Curry
at  cexec@hilc.org

Christina:

The ONLY HOSPITALS with staff interpreters of which I am aware are
Bellevue (Harry), NYU (Jodi) and St. Vincent (Gloria).

The other hospitals believe they are compliant and have an  interpreter
because they know of the telephone number of the  interpreting agency or
VRI agency to contact if an interpreter is  needed OR  because they have
identified a staff member who knows some  sign language or has a deaf
family member so knows some words thus  this person “interprets” for
them when necessary.

These recognized persons are NEVER screened by an interpreting agency
or organizaion to determine their level of skill. They accept to use
them solely based on their comments of their skills during they  polling
of staff to determine other languages spoken amongst staff.  Their
individuals primary role is not as an interpreter for the  hospital,
they are not skilled nor professionally training and  thereby violate
many of the interpreting Code of Conduct.

Sorry for the wordiness of these email, I merely wanted to issue you
understand my comments and thoughts.

Kathleen D. Taylor, MA, CI/CT, NAD
Cert. American Sign Language Interpreter
NAOBI-NYC President
718-789-3509
917-407-6771
www.KDTterpASL.com

DTFNYC Disaster Education Presentation

Deaf Task Force New York City (DTFNYC)
Presents
Disaster Education Presentation
Do you know Disasters can strike at any time
and without warning?
Do you know what to do during a disaster?
What would you do if you had no
water, gas, electric or telephone were cut off?
Disasters can force you to leave your home or neighborhood.
You need to prepare for disasters in case it happens to you.
It is important to develop a plan to prepare for EMERGENCIES.
Join us to learn how to prepare yourself and your family for an emergency or disaster.
The American Red Crossin Greater New York
is giving the
Disaster Education presentation
New York University
Silver Building, Room 403
31 Washington Place
New York, NY 10003
Friday, March 2nd, 2007
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Directions:
Driving Direction: Mapquest.com
Subway and Bus Direction: Hopstop.com
To receiving the DTFNYC Newslettersand Announcements,
Please send blank email to
dtfnyc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
For more information, contact us at
DTFNYC.publicaccess@gmail.com

[ That's where the Deaf Task Force NYC comes in.]

DTFNYC HIGH ALERT! VACCINATIONS NEEDED IN THIS COMMUNITY

Time to jumpstart the passiveness in you and inject 1000mg doze of proactive adrenaline in you, and pass out FREE vaccinations to the infectious apathetic community. The city/state and government officials do not know what’s right for us, YOU DO!

Come to our meeting: Friday, February 2nd at 32 Washington Place (Silver Building-Room 403) 6:30-8:30.

There will be a CPR Demonstration/Hands-on Training. Come one, come all!

________________________________________________________________

From the newsroom of the Montgomery Advertiser, Montgomery, Alabama, Sunday, January 28, 2007 …..

Letters

Deaf also need storm warnings

Thank you for the editorial on the necessity of weather-alert systems. It is good that the entire metro area is within range of National Weather Service broadcast range.

However, in all this commendable planning, the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing people are not being addressed. Ten percent of the population has some kind of hearing problem, so this is a significant number.

A few years ago weather alert radios were distributed by a Birmingham organization, free of charge, to deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens. The radios were supposed to be hooked up to a flashing light. These radios were impossible to set up if you didn’t possess an electrical engineering degree. Many went into the trash can.

Emergency officials need to take into consideration the deaf and hard-of-hearing population of the area, involving us in all planning and implementation stages.

Rev. Jay L. Croft
Montgomery

Copyright © 1997- 2007 The Advertiser Co.

Dr. David Shulkin
President
Beth Israel Medical Center
16th Street and 1st Avenue
New York, NY 10003

January 25, 2007

Dear President Shulkin:

My name is Joshua Finkle and I am the current president of the Empire State Association of the Deaf. Last week, nearly 200 members of the New York City deaf and sign language communities met to discuss their concerns about your recent decision to radically downsize Beth Israel Medical Center’s on-site Sign Language Interpreting Department and replace live interpreters with Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) equipment throughout your facility. We are taking this opportunity to express some of these concerns.

For over a decade, BIMC has been the “gold standard model” for accessible health care for the deaf because of its sign language interpreting department. Your hospital has been a regional leader in the health care industry by providing exemplary full-time, live, on-site and on-call interpreters. The deaf community is diverse, akin to the make-up of New York City. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals come from a wide range of familial and educational backgrounds. Some come from different countries and utilize their native sign languages. Others use signs with regional dialects. BIMC’s sign language interpreting department has been very successful in adapting to this diversity and accommodating everyone’s needs. Consequently, the New York City deaf community relies on BIMC for the highest quality of care. That will change once VRI becomes the standard interpreting service offered to your patients.

We recognize that the decision to expand VRI services is undoubtedly the result of a cost-benefit analysis and an effort to relieve financial pressures. However, as much as we appreciate the economic challenges faced by a facility such as BIMC, we implore you to halt further action on your plan and reconsider your decision after meeting with representatives from the deaf, hard-of-hearing, and sign language communities.

VRI has serious limitations. We are aware that BIMC currently uses VRI in its emergency room to satisfy the requirements of the State of New York Department of Health Code (Section 405.7 – Patient’s Rights, 7, viii (a)). However, the Federal Communications Commission qualifies VRI as a way to provide interpreting services when an interpreter cannot be physically present (FCC Public Notice DA 05-2417).

47-43 Vernon Blvd, Long Island City, NY 11101
Tel. (71 433-1092 Fax (71 392-3576

Other considerations regarding the use of VRI are vast. Several examples were offered by members of the community, from their own experience. To cite just a few:

• VRI cannot be accessed by deaf persons with vision loss including those who are deaf-blind, have limited vision, or have Usher’s Syndrome;

• VRI cannot be accessed by deaf persons who have some form of mental incapacitation including mental retardation, autism, psychotic disorder, etc.;

• Live and physical contact with a deaf patient is often necessary, especially when a patient is experiencing pain or is compromised physically, e.g. lying in a prone position;

• VRI cannot accommodate the full progression of a patient’s experience at BIMC. Live interpreters move with deaf patients between clinics, surgical suites, testing suites, administrative offices, etc. Limited availability of VRI equipment cannot match this standard of care nor satisfy accessibility requirements;

• VRI technology is not always reliable. In addition to technical difficulties (will the medical staff know how to fix a connection problem?), problems can arise from regional differences in sign choices as well as vocal accents. Physical and aural positioning during an examination or a procedure, etc. often cannot be reliably captured or conveyed through a stationary screen.

We request that you, along with involved members of your staff and Board of Trustees, meet with us in an open forum to discuss the practical, ethical, and medical concerns of your plan. Certainly, the decision to switch to a VRI system should not be made without representation and input from the deaf community. We invite you to schedule this meeting for no later than the end of February, 2007.

We want to help BIMC avoid making a calamitous error that would potentially lead to litigation and adversely affect our community. Instead, we want to encourage BIMC to continue to be an outstanding leader in accessible health care as we continue to regard your institution with utmost respect.

Sincerely yours,

Joshua Finkle, M.S.W., President, Empire State Association of the Deaf
Mary Kay Adams, CI, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreting Services, Inc.
Charlotte Lewis, M.A., Assistant Residence Manager, F.E.G.S. / New York Society for the Deaf Services, Tanya Towers Apartment Treatment Program
Henry Sang, Deaf Task Force Moderator/Leader
Debbie Swamback, Deaf/Interpreter Relations Committee (DIRC)
Christopher Tester, Civil Rights Advocate
Lusanne Massaro, MA, President NYC Metro Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, RID Certified ASL Interpreter CI, CT

cc:
Morton P. Hyman, Chairman of the BIMC Board of Trustees
Laura Weil, Director of BIMC Patient Representative Department

Deaf Task Force New York City

Presents

CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Awareness

If a cardiac arrest happened to your love one or a close friend,

Would you know how to perform life-saving CPR?

The New York City Fire Department is giving the

CPR Awareness presentation.

FREE workshop for hand-on training.

New York University

Silver Building, Room 403

31 Washington Place

New York, NY 10003

Friday, February 2nd, 2007

6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Directions:

Driving Direction: Mapquest.com

Subway and Bus Direction: Hopstop.com

Reserve your seat for a free hand-on training

Please send your name and email address along

with subject line “CPR Training” to DTFNYC.publicaccess@gmail.com

by Tuesday, January 30th, 2007

__________________________________________________________

What is Deaf Task Force NYC

The mission of the Deaf Task Force New York City (DTFNYC) consists of
Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people

who joined force to implement short and long-term goals

for equal access for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing and Deaf-Blind people
living in NYC.

The Deaf Task Force aims to improve communication and information
accessibility within the NYC MTA transit system,

evacuation designed safe areas under the subway stations, 9-1-1
accessible emergency procedures,

emergency preparedness for immediate evacuation, first response in
emergency care training,

information on alert systems, accessible emergency communication and
notification within the law enforcement,

hospitals, and fire department — all within the city, state and federal
operating system.

“When information is ‘not accessible’ for the Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and
Deaf-Blind people,

then ignorance kills, silence kills, fear kills, and neglect kills.
INFORMATION IS POWER,” quotes Jade.

Our goal is to provide outreach, education, advocacy and support in
collaboration with our community.
Let’s act bravely to make the change from being a divisive and
widespread community prone to apathy to one that is proactive.

Join us in the fight for equal access.

We need your power to help us create changes in our community.

We meet on the first Friday of the month.

OUR NEXT MEETING IS FRIDAY

FEBRUARY 2ND FROM 6:30 PM -8:30 PM

NYU: Silver Building, Room 403

31 Washington Place

New York, NY 10003

To learn more about our short and long term plan of actions,

we have reports available for those who request them.

It will also be posted on our blog.

Website: deaftaskforce.wordpress.com

To receiving the DTFNYC Newsletters & Announcements

Email to dtfnyc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Have you visit this site? www.911fearinsilence.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION,

CONTACT US AT: dtfnyc.publicaccess@gmail.com

December 5, 2006

Dear Deaf Task Force NYC–

The DVD should be captioned. Please contact MTA and request that the DVD be reproduced with captions. Assuming MTA is a state or local government agency, it is required by Section 504 and Title II of the ADA to ensure that its programs and services (including emergency preparedness information) is accessible by people with disabilities.

Access to 911 services from all cell phones, pagers, PDAs, or other mobile telecommunications devices, as well as for VoIP, IP Relay, and VRS, is an issue of great concern to emergency preparedness advocacy groups. I heard that in California, possibly Sacramento, one emergency 911 call center established a text-based communication system. Part of the problem with 911 from a device other than a landline telephone system is routing the call to the appropriate 911 call center. Solutions are being investigated. For more information, go to www.fcc.gov and search for “E911.”

I hope this information is helpful.

Rosaline

Rosaline Crawford
NAD Law and Advocacy Center
8630 Fenton Street, Suite 820
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 587-7730 (voice/TTY)
(301) 587-1791 (fax)

December 6, 2006

A note from Ms. Claudia Gordon to John Benison of Department of Transportation and Cheryl King Department of Homeland Security.

Cheryl and John:

I received a constituent inquiry regarding the lack of captioning of an evacuation instruction DVD released by NYC MTA for its transit subway stations. The DVD was released in September as part of National preparedness Month. I have not viewed the instructional DVD in entirety to confirm that it indeed lack captioning. Click onto the below link to view a clip:

http://www.mta.info/nyct/evacuation/evacuation.htm

My understanding is that the new evacuation instruction posted in all NYC subway cars during the month of September and is available for those who request it on line or by phone. In addition to captioning of the DVD, we should also question the availability of such instructions in alternative format for individuals with vision disabilities and individuals who do not speak English.

We each know that Title II of the ADA governs accessibility of State and local government services, programs, and activities in regards to people with disabilities, as well as section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act if federal dollars are also involved. I would be happy to collaborate with you on appropriate follow-up action(s).

Best regards,

Claudia L. Gordon
Senior Policy Advisor
Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Department of Homeland Security
(202) 357-8327 (v)
(202) 357-8346 (tty)
(202) 357-8298 (f)
claudia.gordon@dhs.gov

Dear Task Force NYC:

I have attached two documents in response to your 9-1-1 inquiry. In a nutshell, yes the issue is being addressed. There is an Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) Stakeholder Council comprising of individual and organizational consumer stakeholders (e.g. NAD, TDI, California Center for the Law & the Deaf, Gallaudet University, Hearing Loss of America, only to name a few) and industry stakeholders. To learn more about the work of this Council and to perhaps collaborate with them you may contact the Chair – Sheri Farinha Mutti. I do not have her email address readily available but you can locate her via NorCal Center on Deafness, Sacramento – CA where she serves as CEO. You may also secure information via NAD and/or TDI.

As you may have noted in our last several Interagency Coordinating Council Monthly Updates, the FCC was scheduled to host a day-long E9-1-1 Summit (agenda attached). The Summit took place on November 15th and was attended by FCC officials and Commissioners, in addition to representatives from the Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, DHS, and the White House Domestic Policy Council. Notably, in addition to the FCC, the Department of Transportation is also actively exploring technological solutions.

It is also worth noting that E9-1-1 technological feasibility issues span beyond the hearing disability community. See for example, http://www.nena.org/pages/Content.asp?CID=83&CTID=5 although the conference and input period has passed. The E9-1-1 Stakeholder Council is working to ensure that while the government and industry identify mainstream solutions, those solutions are also be workable for individuals with hearing and speech disabilities or that there be a workable alternative.

As appropriate, I will keep you abreast of relevant future developments or meetings either directly or via colleagues in FCC and DOT. In the meantime, you may wish to become affiliated with the E9-1-1 Stakeholder Council.

Best regards,

Claudia L. Gordon
Senior Policy Advisor
Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Department of Homeland Security
(202) 357-8327 (v)
(202) 357-8346 (tty)
(202) 357-8298 (f)
claudia.gordon@dhs.gov

The E9-1-1 Summit reports’ available for anyone who requests for it.