Directions for prevention (33) Providing information to the hearing impaired people

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　Immediately after a major disaster occurs, when the power is out or communication is poor, life-saving information is mainly conveyed by voice, such as disaster radio, municipal public information vehicles, and calls from fire brigades. This situation also occurred during the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the hearing impaired people were unable to receive disaster and disaster prevention information.

　Written communication is an easy and reliable way for the general public to communicate with people who are hearing impaired. Have writing utensils, notebook, and sticky notes ready. It can also be used to leave messages for family and friends, such as information on their safety or evacuation destinations.

　If you do not have a pen and paper, you can use your fingers to write letters in the air.

　To assist with communication with hearing impaired people during disasters, Kahoku Shimpo newspaper created a pointing conversation sheet that includes the options "yes" or "no" to questions about what to do immediately after a disaster, such as evacuation. It can be downloaded free of charge from Online News. Use it for disaster drills.