| NSF Org: |
CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation |
| Recipient: |
|
| Initial Amendment Date: | August 26, 2022 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 26, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 2228522 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Shen
CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2022 |
| End Date: | March 31, 2023 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $50,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $50,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
|
| History of Investigator: |
|
| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 LOMB MEMORIAL DR ROCHESTER NY US 14623-5603 (585)475-7987 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
|
| Primary Place of Performance: |
1 LOMB MEMORIAL DR ROCHESTER NY US 14623-5603 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
|
| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
|
| Parent UEI: |
|
| NSF Program(s): | S&CC: Smart & Connected Commun |
| Primary Program Source: |
|
| Program Reference Code(s): |
|
| Program Element Code(s): |
|
| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
This Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) project is a vision to identify and bridge specific gaps in essential emergency resources and services for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) community in Monroe County, New York. Situated within Monroe County, Rochester New York is home to the largest per capita population of DHH people in the US. Stage 1 pilot project activities will be undertaken between three partners - (1) the Rochester Institute of Technology and the National Technical Institute of the Deaf, (2) the Monroe County Office of Emergency Management, and (3) the Rochester Recreation Club for Deaf. The project represents a unique coupling of academic research with the DHH community and emergency management. Project goals include identifying DHH community emergency service gaps, creating and evaluating DHH emergency communication tools, identifying educational pathways for incorporation of knowledge about the DHH into emergency management and geospatial technology practice, and identifying pathways for the DHH to become part of the emergency management STEM workforce and volunteer efforts. To the best knowledge, this would be the first NSF research effort to directly address the topic of bridging the gap between emergency services and DHH communities. Results will be generalizable to other community contexts with special needs populations beyond Monroe County NY for broader project national impact and legacy.
Issues related to the DHH and emergency management cycle have received little attention from emergency management researchers and discussion in the academic literature. Project research questions designed to scale from a planning project to a Stage 2 rapid deployment project are: R1: What are the spatial relationships between the DHH community and hazards that may reveal specific gaps in emergency services for the DHH?; R2: What are the messaging and communication needs of the DHH community during all phases of the emergency management cycle? R3: What pedagogical practice is needed for education and workforce development of emergency management practitioners on the needs of the DHH community during all phases of the emergency management cycle? Methods used include (R1) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) machine learning to compare DHH populations with hazards for event prediction, decision making, and targeted messaging, (R2) 3D modeling to simulate how signage can be used in time-sensitive emergency situations where the DHH cannot hear warnings and user-centered design with the DHH community on graphical emergency communication devices, and (R3) the organizational approach of the incident command system (ICS) to investigate the relationship between ICS operation and DHH populations.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The primary vision of the project was to identify and develop a plan to bridge specific gaps in essential emergency resources and services for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) community in Monroe County, New York. This vision was achieved through four goals. First, the project team identified specific gaps in essential emergency resources for the DHH community. For this goal, the team conducted focus group interviews with stakeholder groups, including the Rochester Recreation Club for the Deaf (RRCD), the Deaf Refugee Advocacy (DRA), and Monroe County public safety (PS) officials. The outcomes of these focus groups included a deeper understanding of the DHH community need for better access to different forms of emergency communication as well as the need for PS officials to have a better awareness of DHH culture. The DRA also participated in a pilot geospatial activity enabling them to map community hazards. The DRA members commented that this activity gave them a voice, demonstrating the importance of community involvement.
The second goal was to create and evaluate specific forms of emergency communication to bridge service communication gaps between the PS and DHH communities. The outcomes for this goal included the development of a 3D emergency simulation tool specifically focused on simulating how signage can be used in time-sensitive emergency situations where audio-based alerts are not accessible to DHH community members. Another outcome was the partnership with an expert in deaf emergency communications to further develop resources to assist with on-the-spot communication needs between a DHH individual and emergency personnel. Finally, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) Center for Access Technology is developing emergency communication technology for the DHH using disaster notification information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The third goal was to identify educational pathways for incorporating knowledge about the DHH into emergency management (EM) and geospatial technology practice. An important outcome of this goal is the realization that emergency management training focused on DHH populations is scant to non-existent with the DHH often being lumped into the broader category of people with disabilities. Similarly, many DHH people interviewed were not aware of emergency services in their communities or how they might become part of EM practice as volunteers. There is an important need for the creation of education modules for EM professionals as well as training for community members in emergency preparedness.
Finally, the fourth goal was to identify pathways for the DHH to become part of the emergency management STEM workforce and volunteer efforts. This goal led to two outcomes. The first outcome would be to have DHH students, trained in geospatial technologies from RIT/NTID, serve as interns with the Monroe County Office of Emergency Management (MCOEM). The students will gain practical experience working in EM, and PS officials will gain direct experience working with DHH students and learn more about Deaf culture. The second outcome would be to use of the FEMA Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program, which is a well-established national volunteer EM mechanism, to organize and train DHH community members for EM activities.
The project team is confident that the outcomes of this project demonstrates the need to bridge gaps in emergency services for the DHH community. In addition to positively impacting the local DHH community, the results will be generalizable to other community contexts with special needs populations such as deaf refugees and non-English speakers beyond Monroe County for a broader project national impact and legacy, as one in eight people in the U.S. experience hearing loss. The focus on using geospatial technology will enhance STEM education for persons with disabilities, and overall national security will benefit from enhancing the disaster resilience of persons with disabilities.
Last Modified: 06/03/2023
Modified by: Brian Tomaszewski
Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
