911 Staff Will Text Message With Deaf Canadians

CBC - 911 staff will text message with Deaf Canadians.



OTTAWA - Canadians who have hearing or speech problems will soon be able to send text messages to 911 services.



Other Canadians, however, must continue to communicate with 911 services over the phone, says Canada's telecommunications regulator.



By Jan. 24, 2014, all telephone and wireless companies must upgrade their networks to support text messaging communication with Canadians who have hearing and speech impairments. The service may become available before then in areas where the upgrades are completed early.



"Services such as 911 are critical to the health and safety of all Canadians,” said Jean-Pierre Blais, chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in a statement Thursday.



“This initiative is a perfect example of how technology can be used to improve access to 911 services for Canadians with disabilities." ... Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/01/24/tech-911-texting.html

Deaf Hunter Crawls From Forest After Accident

WITNtv - Deaf hunter crawls out of woods, survives serious leg injury after deer stand falls.



Greenville, N.C. - Reporter interview with Joe, who is Deaf, tells his story of falling out of a tree and breaking his leg during a solo hunting trip. It took him 12 hours to crawl from the forest and another several to find aid.



Joe Liuzza got home alive, just barely. Through grit and determination, he was able to win his battle against nature and pull himself and his mangled leg out of a swamp following a hunting-related accident near Robersonville that turned into a 14-hour ordeal.

Video by claytonbauman13



Liuzza, 47, was home temporarily from the hospital on Dec. 13 and feeling a little more relaxed as he recounted the details of his harrowing experience.



It was easy to see in his features and by the steel cage wrapped around his right lower leg, rods poking through the skin to hold the disconnected portions of his bones in place that he had been through a struggle that he and his wife, Delia, owner of The Tipsy Teapot in Greenville, would never forget.



She served as her husband's sign-language interpreter because Joe is Deaf... Read more: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20130107/WIRE/130109796

Dispatcher Hailed Hero For Helping Deaf Woman's Mother

WKRN-TV - Dispatcher hailed hero for helping Deaf woman's mother.



Nashville, Tenn. - A Clarksville woman is grateful to a 911 dispatcher who got help to her Deaf mother Monday night. Lisa Prichard lives in Clarksville and was home when her mother texted her that something was wrong.



Prichard was able to video call her mother Joy Gournaris, 68, at Gournaris' Antioch home. "She was confused, she didn't understand what was going on and was getting ready to pass out," Prichard said.



Prichard knew if she tried to drive to her mother's home from Clarksville it would take her an hour. She was also concerned because it appeared her mother was having a stroke and every second counted.

Video by Joseph Pleasant



Prichard kept her mother on video phone and called 911 from her Clarksville home. Clarksville's 911 center transferred her to Nashville where 911 Dispatcher Lori Bentley took over the phone call.



"While, I'm communicating with sign language with my mother I was talking to the dispatcher," Prichard said. "I had to really be calm and think about what I was saying. I wanted to cry and scream, but I stayed calm for my mother."



The video relay system Gournaris uses has a 911 emergency component that allows her to make emergency calls... Read more: http://www.wkrn.com/story/20538233/operator-praised-for-helping-woman-get-help-to-deaf-mother

Police Brutality Taser On Innocent Deaf Woman

Video: Police brutality taser on innocent Deaf woman.



Tacoma, WA. - KIRO TV’s investigative unit has discovered Tacoma police used force to arrest and handcuff an innocent Deaf woman after she called 911 for their help.



She called for police assistance after a guest reportedly attacked her in her own apartment. Deaf since birth, White used a special video-equipped phone, connected to a TV and a Web camera, to call 911. A certified American Sign Language interpreter on the other end verbally relayed White’s pleas for help to a Tacoma police dispatcher.

KIRO 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne.



Instead of an apology, she ended up bloody and in jail for nearly three days without an interpreter before a prosecutor declined to press charges... Read more:

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/crime-law/police-use-taser-deaf-crime-victim/nP9mZ/



Watch Video in ASL: Deaf Woman Helpless Without Interpreter:

http://www.kirotv.com/videos/news/deaf-woman-helpless-without-interpreter/vc9Y9/



Watch Raw Video: 911 Call Through Sign Language Interpreter:

http://www.kirotv.com/videos/news/raw-911-call-through-sign-language-interpreter/vc8rS/



As seen on Article: http://deafyouvideo.blogspot.com/2012/08/us-police-brutalize-terrorize-african.html