news article on 9-1-1 and the deaf/email

[Guest guest]

(Ridgeroader) had asked for this, but on rereading it, I think

everyone will appreciate it. Maybe we can help this catch on! What an

opportunity to REALLY make a difference.

From the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, Lifestyle section, page E-1, Tuesday,

11/25/03:

WIRELESS PAGERS BECOME A LIFELINE FOR THE DEAF

by Svensson

The Associated Press

When Cary Barbin's car broke down at 2 a.m. on a remote road in New Jersey,

pulling out a cell phone and calling the auto club wasn't an option. Like

his parents, grand-parents, and millions of other Americans, he's deaf.

But Barbin wasn't helpless. He took out his BlackBerry wireless pager and

typed an e-mail to a hearing friend, who called the tow truck.

Barbin, 35, researches technologies for the deaf at Gallaudet University, a

Washington-based school for the deaf and hard of hearing, but he didn't have

an e-mail pager just because he's a techie.

Cell-phone-size messaging gadgets like the BlackBerry and the T-Mobile

Sidekick have caught on quickly with the deaf since being introduced a few

years ago, giving them freedom to move around and communicate like never

before.

" I talk to my friends almost every day with the pager. It is really great! "

said Blaisdell, a deaf 15-year-old in Pascoag, RI. He uses his

Sidekick to message his parents for rides and stay in touch with them when

he's out, things that would have been hard or impossible a few years ago.

The pagers have become even more important to the deaf than cell phones are

for the hearing, since the deaf can't use regular phones or pay phones.

" Before, you were set to a strict plan that was set in advance. There was

no way to change the plan if somebody was running late, " said Joe Karp,

director of marketing at Wynd Communications, one of a couple of companies

that specialize in selling wireless services to the deaf.

Wynd, which is based in San Obispo, CA, started out selling e-mail

pagers to corporate travelers. But in 1997, the company got an e-mail from

a deaf lawyer, who pointed out that the pagers were great for the deaf.

" We began to explore the opportunity and found that there was a decent-size

market--28 million deaf or hard of hearing in the U.S., " Karp said.

This month, Wynd introduced a service that makes its pagers more useful in

communicating with the hearing. Users can now send text messages to human

operators, who call a hearing recipient on the phone and read the message.

The recipient can then tell the operator to send a message back to the deaf

person's pager.

The human operator is part of a state-mandated relay service designed for

older equipment known as TTY machines. These can send and receive text

messages through regular phone lines. Of course, lugging around these

machines, which look like electric typewriters, and plugging them into phone

lines hasn't been an attractive option for the deaf.

In some ways, the pagers even take the part of the radio for the deaf.

Users can subscribe to services that send news and traffic reports, or tips

on where closed-captioned movies are playing. The pager network in New York

helped the deaf understand what was happening during the Sept. 11 terrorist

attacks, Barbin said.

In one important area, however, the e-mail pagers fall behind in

usefulness--you can't use them to call 9-1-1 directly. Like Barbin, in

emergencies the deaf typically email or message a hearing friend or family

member and have them make the call.

Deaf people can call 9-1-1 from cell phones with TTY features, but since

cell phones are of little use to the deaf otherwise, they're not very

popular.

" The whole area of messaging and 9-1-1 needs to be examined, and the

emergency number professionals in the U.S. are beginning to do so, " said

Judy Harkin, director of the Technology Access Program at Gallaudet.

The police department in Sacramento, CA may be showing the way. It started

accepting " 9-1-1 " e-mails in February.

The service is intended for the city's deaf, but it clearly fills an unmet

need. Deaf people from as far away as Los Angeles and Texas have sent in

e-mails asking the Sacramento police to relay emergency information to their

local authorities, according to dispatcher Vera Hill.

" It's something that gives the deaf community a good feeling, being able to

contact us at all times, " she said.

---

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).

Version: 6.0.551 / Virus Database: 343 - Release Date: 12/11/03