And You Thought Terrorism Was Going To Be Accessible

Everyone assembled as directed on a Saturday morning at a local college. As we processed through, our names were matched with IDs and we signed release forms. It was somewhat noisy and difficult to hear. (I didn't wear my hearing aids because I wanted to be very hard of hearing. Later for a number of reasons I decided I should have worn my aids.) After signing the release forms we went through a second security check and were assigned to different stations, each manned by two people. At the stations our names were once again checked. We were then assigned long cards that we were to wear around our necks that included our "vital signs" (pulse, blood pressure, etc.) and our symptoms. I don't remember my vital signs but they were apparently within range for someone who had encountered a bio-terror attack but was not seriously ill. (At this stage of the drill - in keeping with real life - none of us knew what type of chemical was to have been used in the attack.) My symptoms were: "Knows name; can provide correct day and date but slow to respond; crying and excited." I wasn't quite sure how I would be slow to respond, crying and excited all at the same time so I left off the crying part.

At the appropriate time we were gathered to be seated in a huge ballroom where the drill was explained by the Department of Justice. Up to this point - and in fact beyond this point in the training - there were no accommodations for people with a hearing loss. The DOJ slide show commentary and drill details were not accessible for hard of hearing or deaf people. Fortunately a hearing person in a scooter explained what had been said. Had this been the real thing I'd have wanted to hear it from the source but at this point getting the information from a physically disabled person in a scooter was the best we could hope for. Our instructions were to drive ourselves to an assigned hospital where we would complain of symptoms and the attack. Apparently taking what was learned from real terrorist attacks in New York, Oklahoma and Tokyo the trainers knew that in the real world people would begin to show up on their own at local hospitals. Some in fact would show up before or just as news of the attack was reaching the public. At some point the hospital locked down for security reasons and only those exhibiting illness were allowed in. (During the drill the codeword for a real emergency was "Real Emergency" and was treated as such.)

We had to wait as the hospital began to respond. They had to set up a triage station and a decontamination station (tent). We were of course kept outside the building for reasons of contamination. Often I had no idea what was going on. Things were explained somewhat from time to time but I could only understand a small portion of what was said. As hospital staff dressed in chemical suits - including face masks and plastic face shields - began to assemble and direct us, understanding and/or reading lips were not options available to me. Trying to respond to muffled speech, I began to go through triage. The hospital staff appeared to be somewhat confused, which did nothing to soothe my slow minded but excitable and generally gassed paranoia. As they took our vitals we were led to the "decon" tent to wait our turn to be stripped and sprayed. (We had been advised to wear bathing suits beneath our clothes. Some people actually had their clothes cut off.) We were made to remove all items from our body (except bathing suits) rings, earrings and any other kind of ring or jewelry. At this point I wish I had worn my hearing aids. What would the emergency staff do with hearing aids in a real decon situation? I could see them easily getting lost or misplaced in the mayhem. This was the time to address such things. All of our clothing and jewelry were bagged and tagged, to be returned to us later. We were then given those hospital gowns that will not remain tied in the back and footies. At this point prognosis tags were affixed to our wrists and we were then rolled into an emergency room. In the ER nurses interviewed us and those victims needing immediate care, respiration and such, were handled immediately. We sat there in a group, in wheelchairs, sneaking looks at each other's color-coded prognosis tags and waiting for the doctors to arrive. Some victims played their roles to the hilt. Some cried, some just sat there, I acted dazed and confused (my wife wasted no time in telling me that I was typecast), and one or two victims acted angry and demanding. We were interviewed again and "given" medicine. We continued to sit and wait. We were checked again and finally 7 1/2 hours later the drill was declared completed.

From the beginning to the end the drill was not accessible to late deafened adults, oral deaf or hard of hearing. There were a few nurses who could sign enough to communicate with Deaf people. The hospital told me that they do have a contract with an interpreting agency and that ASL interpreters would be available in a real emergency. I'd like to have seen them called as part of the drill. For those who did not sign nothing was accessible. We suggested FM systems and even pre-printed cards with instructions on them. Decontamination was especially confusing as I couldn't understand what was said. I could not see anyone's lips behind masks and the glare of plastic face shields. The doctors talked quietly in the crowded ER, but too quiet for me to understand everything they said. Had this been the real thing I don't know that I'd have had much of a clue as to what was happening. Unfortunately with the exception of a blind person with a dog and a person with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Disorder with a dog all people with disabilities were sent to one hospital. In the real world that is not the way it would work. We recommended that assignments for people with disabilities be randomly distributed in the future.

In the end as victims we discovered that the attack was a saran gas attack. The gentleman in the scooter who helped keep us informed earlier was one of several who were taken to a special area prior to the beginning of the drill to have his face and arms painted pale white. His lips were painted pale blue. He "died" in the hospital and never made it to through decontamination, as did several who were close to the actual chemical bomb. Also a "terrorist" took a woman hostage and threatened to explode a second bomb while panicked "bystanders" interfered with police and fire services. Police and special operations people eventually "killed" the terrorist but by that time many of the victims closest to the saran bomb were already dead. As all this was happening concerned "relatives" and "reporters" hounded emergency staff to do something or to answer questions.

We - victims with disabilities - have made our recommendations to the DOJ and to the Glendale Fire Department regarding drill accessibility and emergency accessibility. We have volunteered to participate in future drills. The more emergency responders can experience working with us the better it will be for everyone. Attitude has been the key factor in our cooperative efforts. We know that many emergency services have not taken the needs of people with hearing loss or other disabilities into consideration. We understand that in some ways it isn't going to happen and we understand why. We know the drills will often not be accessible, but we hope that over time we can change that. I can say that having gone through the drill I am now better prepared. We have learned there is much we can do pro-actively and we are working on that.

For more information, check out some of Randy's recommended sites:

Emergency Email - http://www.emergencyemail.org/
Emergency Evacuation Preparedness - http://www.cdihp.org/pdf/finalv4brochure.pdf
National Organization of Disabilities Emergency Preparedness Resource list - http://www.nod.org/content.cfm?id=787
CDC - Smallpox Response Plan - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/response-plan/index.asp
FCC - Emergency Video Programming (TV, Cable and Satellite)- http://ftp.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/emergencyvideo.html
FCC - Communicating During Emergencies - http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/emergencies.html
FEMA - Community Emergency Response Teams - http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/CERT/