Hearing Diversity and Inequality of Emergency Services: Perspectives on Greater Societal Inclusion for the Deaf

Purpose – We seek to investigate (1) Where are the perceived gaps or inequalities in emergency services for the Deaf? (2) How do perspectives on these inequalities differ across Deaf populations and emergency service providers?
Design/methodology/approach – We conducted three focus groups: two composed of Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) persons, and one composed of emergency service providers, with discussions recorded, transcribed, and then thematically coded. Themes were compared across different groups.
Findings – We found evidence of communication and accommodation needs among DHH persons during emergencies. Emergency response professionals, however, may not fully understand the different lived experience of DHH persons and do not have the training and resources needed to always provide accessible service, leading to serious inequality in emergency services provided to the DHH community.
Originality – We are among the first to investigate different perspectives on the gaps in emergency services for the DHH, extending the management literature on treatment of PWD in organizations to treatment of external organizational stakeholders at the industry level.