FORT MYERS, Fla. — Fort Myers Fire Department firefighters completed a three-day training program with the Sally J. Pimentel Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center to improve communication with deaf and hard-of-hearing people, especially as the region enters peak hurricane season.
The training equipped firefighters with basic sign language skills and taught them to recognize when someone is requesting an interpreter.
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"Our job is to always give the highest level of care, and it can be difficult if we're not understanding what they're saying," said Alphonso Churchwell, a Fort Myers firefighter.
Firefighter Bella Pizzani and her colleagues learned essential phrases during the training.
The training comes at a crucial time as hurricane season approaches, when emergency communication becomes even more vital.
"It's a kind of hard feeling for us as responders being unable to communicate, and that's just on our side. But just imagine the person who is having that emergency, right? They're already feeling a little bit heightened in their anxiety," said Chief Tracy McMillan.
Amy Turner, executive director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center, emphasized the importance of recognizing interpreter requests.
The center serves five counties between Tampa and Miami, including Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. Turner said 13% of the population is classified as hard of hearing, with several hundred deaf individuals living throughout Lee County.
The training revealed important insights for first responders, including that some deaf individuals cannot read English and rely solely on visual sign language communication.
Chief McMillan said the emergency management team plans to include interpreters as part of their response during disasters.
"Whenever we have a situation, we want to have interpreters be part of our emergency management team, to be able to be present," McMillan said.
The center is also working with Lee County Emergency Management to create point cards for hurricane shelters, allowing deaf individuals to communicate non-verbally by pointing to pictures representing their needs.
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