The Arkansas Association of the Deaf and ADEM collaborate to offer emergency response training to the deaf community

Little Rock, Arkansas – The Arkansas Association of the Deaf and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management are collaborating to provide the deaf community with disaster emergency training.

The community was able to learn how to react to crisis circumstances through practical training exercises at the Arkansas School of Deaf.

The training was prompted by the Mar. 31 tornado that devastated Little Rock the previous year, according to Jeff Prail of the Arkansas Association of the Deaf, speaking through an interpreter.

Do we remain in the shelter? Do we leave? At the time, we were unaware,” Prail remarked.

The deaf community was left in the dark because there was no electricity or appropriate means of being warned. Gary Ragen of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said that after Prail contacted him, they started formulating ideas on how to prevent this breakdown in communication in the event of another crisis.

“Working with a group of people who have requested this assistance feels really good, and it will help them be better prepared for disasters,” Ragen remarked.

This group finished the Community Emergency Response Team course and obtained their credentials in stop-the-bleed training with the assistance of other community organizations.

Bottom line, Prail stated, “Gary understood what our needs were and was willing to put in the hard work, so it’s teamwork.”