音声ブラウザご使用の方向け: ナビメニューを飛ばして本文へ ナビメニューへ

  

Ideal Approach to Support Deafblind Persons in Disasters

Japan Deafblind Association

1. Opinion on throughout the Great East Japan Earthquake

The Great East Japan Earthquake caused damage to many deafblind persons,their families,and their interpreter-guides. In Miyagi,one deafblind male died. Although it is not clear under what circumstances he died,it grieves us to think of whether or not he received an early warning of tsunami's approaching,and whether there was any way for him to evacuate to save his life.

Even if this deafblind person had made it to an emergency shelter and received water and food,he would have faced many barriers. It would be difficult for deafblind persons to grasp the situation,for example,who is doing what and where,what kind of things are talked,when and how relief goods will be provided,and much more miscellaneous necessary information around us. Being unable to watch the TV or to listen to the radio,it is extremely hard to understand what is actually occurring minute to minute in own area or even throughout Japan.

It is urgently needed to create the system to provide information and appropriate support to deafblind persons in disasters such as earthquakes in Japan.

2. Efforts and response to the earthquake

Immediately after the earthquake,with cooperation from Japan Federation of the Deafblind (JFDb - a self-help organization of deafblind persons),Japan Deafblind Association (JDBA) started to inquire each local-level deafblind organizations called Friendship Society for the Deafblind (Morosha Tomo-no-kai,or just,Tomo-no-kai) in northern Kanto,Tohoku,and Hokkaido areas in order to ascertain the safety of members and their conditions.

At first,it was difficult to make contact in any forms of communication,such as voice phones,fax,and emails. However,as days passed,notification was received from one Tomo-no-kai after another that included members were survived. Unfortunately,one deafblind person and two interpreter-guides were killed by the tsunami in Miyagi,and two interpreter-guides were killed and two interpreter-guides are still missing in Iwate.

Starting on March 13,two days after the earthquake,JDBA began to disseminate information received from the affected areas to each local Tomo-no-kai throughout Japan. Starting on March 15,with the cooperation of the Braille Mainichi,department under the Mainichi Newspapers,the JDBA provided information on daily life in the affected areas every day except Saturdays and Sundays until the end of June.

In addition,starting from March 16,JDBA called raising money for the victims,particularly from local Tomo-no-kai throughout Japan,and as of the end of August 2012,more than 3.2 million yen was collected. The donations were provided to sixty-four deafblind persons in four prefectures affected by the disaster (Ibaraki,Fukushima,Miyagi,and Iwate). Furthermore,supplies such as hearing aid's batteries,portable radios,and dry-cell batteries were provided to deafblind persons upon request while it was difficult to provide supplies immediately after the earthquake.

From April 23 to 26 staff were dispatched to Tomo-no-kai in the affected areas,Fukushima,Miyagi,and Iwate to have meetings and gathered information on the conditions of deafblind victims and survivors. One deafblind person was forced to live in an emergency shelter because his house had sustained major damage and was put under extreme stressful situations due to lack of understanding of deafblindness in the emergency shelter. Another deafblind person living by himself had to spend two days without any contact with anyone because his mobile phone's battery run out. There were also deafblind persons who could not receive necessary support for their daily lives because their interpreter-guides who had provided daily support were affected by the tsunami or evacuated.

Furthermore,we visited Headquarters for Disaster Relief for Deaf People in the Great East Japan Earthquake (Fukushima and Miyagi),and requested for building cooperative relationship.

[Reference]
Safety Confirmation of Deafblind Persons in Each Prefecture

(the numbers is provided by JDBA: members of Tomo-no-kai as of the middle of May 2011)

Hokkaido
deafblind persons 24
interpreter-guides 38

Iwate
deafblind persons 16
interpreter-guides 50
∗ 2 Interpreter-guides died and 2 are missing.

Miyagi
deafblind persons 13
interpreter-guides 68
∗ 1 deafblind person died.

Akita
deafblind persons 9
interpreter-guides 34

Yamagata
deafblind persons 5
interpreter-guides 16

Fukushima
deafblind persons 12
interpreter-guides 51
∗ 2 deafblind persons lived in emergency shelters (2 - 3 weeks).

Ibaraki
deafblind persons 8
interpreter-guides 48

Chiba
deafblind persons 21
interpreter-guides 84

3. Issues revealed right after the disaster till today

The following issues were revealed during the Great East Japan Earthquake.

1) The Act on the Protection of Personal Information became an obstacle.

2) Difficulty in ensuring communicate methods and evacuation methods in case of emergencies.

3) There is no way to approach deafblind persons who do not have or cannot use a communication equipment such as a personal computer or a mobile phone.

4) There are insufficient tools to access to media such as TVs,radio,newspapers,and so on for deafblind persons.

5) There is no system to provide sufficient support to deafblind persons in the disaster since interpreter-guides who support them are also affected.

6) It is difficult to gain understanding of surrounding people regarding deafblindness while living in emergency shelters.

7) There are also no opportunities to receive evacuation training.

4. Proposals for the future

The Japan Deafblind Association made the following proposals taking into consideration as the lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

(1) Establish support system in case of disasters

An emergency support system to guarantee the survival of deafblind persons in life-threatening disasters,such as an earthquake and a tsunami,should be promptly established under the leadership of the central and local governments.

Each prefectural interpreter-guides' dispatching office should collaborate with local government,police department,and fire department to prepare data and share on where each deafblind person lives,the severity of their disability,communication methods,and additional needs while confidentiality is respected. Based on the data,in case disaster occurs,interpreter-guides and/or officers of police and fire department will be dispatched immediately. Also the system of evacuation with residents in their neighborhoods should be developed based on discussion with deafblind persons in advance of disasters.

In addition,building a network of each prefectural interpreter-guides' dispatching offices is necessary to respond such massive disasters because not only deafblind persons but also their interpreter-guides will be affected. Under this system,interpreter-guides can be immediately dispatched from the non-affected areas to provide necessary support even in emergency shelters. Mid-term and long-term provisional support in recovery plan should be taken into consideration. The central and local government needs to secure the budget related to establish this network separately from the budget already existed to support daily lives of deafblind persons.

(2) Develop an accessible system for terrestrial digital broadcasts

An accessible system should be developed for terrestrial digital broadcasts so that deafblind persons can obtain necessary information on their own in case of emergency. The system may include captioning system to enlarge letters and Braille display.

To achieve this,a new investigative committee on the accessibility of TV in case of emergency,composed of broadcasters,telecommunication companies,disabled peoples' organizations including ones for deafblind persons,and related organizations,should be established under the leadership of the central government.

For emergency warning,it is necessary to install some sort of system delivering information in enlarged text,repeating flashing-alarm,and vibrating alarming system instead of audible siren. Such accommodations causes life or death consequences.

Furthermore,it should be possible to listen to terrestrial digital broadcasts on portable radios even if the power is off in case of emergency warning.

(3) Make sure to inform and participation of deafblind persons for disaster risk reduction training study groups.

Deafblind persons themselves have to raise awareness themselves to disaster risk reduction in order to protect themselves from earthquakes and tsunami. It may include understanding safe route to an emergency shelters and skills of evacuation,etc. In order to make it possible,deafblind individuals must be able to participate in trainings or disaster-related seminars in their community. Cost related to these programs should be covered separately from the regular budget of dispatching interpreter-guides necessary for daily activities.

(4) Secure communication methods during emergencies

In addition,developing and disseminating a device that make deafblind persons able to call for help and receive urgent information must be crucial. Cost for development and usage training must be covered or supplemented at the government expense.