The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990, provided civil rights protections for individuals with physical or mental disabilities, including Deafness.  While the ADA has five Titles that each focus on a specific area of public life, emergency services are covered under Titles II and III.  The provisions in Title II discuss the rights afforded to Deaf people when interacting with local and state agencies, such as police officers or firefighters.  The provision in Title III discusses the rights afforded to Deaf people in the public accommodations, such as emergency situations where a Deaf individual seeks help in an emergency room or other health care provider.

ADA protections when interacting with emergency public service agencies

The two most common public service agencies that interact with the general public, including those individuals that are Deaf, are undoubtedly police officers and firefighters or EMS personnel.  Both organizations have documented guidelines for working with and interacting with Deaf or hard of hearing individuals that came from ADA regulations. 

When reporting an emergency, Deaf individuals can either text 911 or use a teletypewriter (TTY).  While these options are slower than calling on an emergency, they allow Deaf individuals to retain an independence and the operators working with these individuals will make sure the responding officers or firefighters are aware that the individual reporting the incident is Deaf.

ADA accommodations are critical in these interactions with emergency situations and the ADA, being governed by the Department of Justice, has created a training guide for officers that focuses solely on interacting with Deaf individuals.  One of the guiding points of this training document is that Deaf people cannot be denied services solely on the fact they are unable to effectively communicate with officers or civilian personnel. 

Specific requirements for communication as outlined by the ADA include providing communication aids, specifically the aid that was requested by the individual unless it provides an undue burden on the department—for instance a police department does not have to provide hearing aids for an individual when typed or written communication would suffice.  The key is effective communication—that both parties clearly understand what the other is saying.  There are three roles that a Deaf or hard of hearing person can take on when working with law enforcement – victim, witness, or suspect.  Depending on the level of information needed from the reporting individual, accommodations can include hand written notes back and forth to try to surmise what happened to warrant the report. If more information is needed, a sign language or oral interpreter can be provided at no cost to the reporting party. If you are a suspect, make sure that you are provided an impartial  and effective interpreter.  There are several law enforcement agencies that keep sign language interpreters on call for situations like this. 

Within the ADA guidelines for effectively communicating, many tips are given to law enforcement personnel to make sure they are following Deaf culture norms. Some of these norms include touching or tapping a person to get their attention before beginning communication, speaking in a well-lit area, minimizing background noise, using visual aids, talking slowly and using short simple sentences. 

When working with firefighters or EMS personnel, guidelines have also been drawn up by specific agencies, to train emergency personnel as to what they may experience when working with Deaf or hard of hearing individuals.  The ADA requires that when transporting a Deaf patient to the emergency room that firefighters or EMS call ahead and request a sign language interpreter.  In addition to providing reasonable accommodations, the agency cannot charge a Deaf person for the communication aids.  When communicating with Deaf or hard of hearing individuals, firefighters, arson investigators, and EMS personnel may use gestures and visual cues, written or typed notes, or an interpreter, either sign language or oral, to gain a full understanding of the situation.   

ADA protections when interacting with emergency health services

Many times, when a Deaf or hard of hearing individual arrives for emergency health services they are either brought by ambulance, in which case the EMS personnel should have called ahead to secure an interpreter for them, or they drive themselves which means communication at the beginning of the visit may be less than effective until an appropriate communication method is secured.  When visiting an emergency room, doctors and nurses often need to know exactly what symptoms the patient is experiencing.  While this can be done with written or typed notes, or possibly assistive communication devices, the ideal communication method would be with an interpreter.  Emergency room visits can go two ways—the patient is able to be stabilized and is released without admittance to the hospital, or the patient is admitted for a possibly life-threatening issue.  This is the time when sign language interpreters are needed the most—in these situations there is lots of medical terminology being used, there are treatment plans and medications that may be prescribed, and doctors need to get a full scope of what the patient is experiencing in terms of symptoms or misdiagnosis could occur leading to a whole host of issues.  The good news is that like emergency service agencies, emergency health services also contract with on-call sign language or oral interpreters to make sure effective communication is achieved between the treating team and the patient. 

Conclusion

Emergency situations are stressful enough without the added worry of being able to communicate your needs with an individual that doesn’t speak your language.  However, ADA laws protect Deaf individuals and their families with the needed accommodations to make sure effective communication is available for all, and the gold standard for effective communication is an interpreter. If you are ever in need of an interpreter, reach out to Unspoken Language Services, a professional ASL interpreting service provider, to bridge the communication gap and create an inclusive and accessible environment for all.