Thursday 17
July
11.00hrs
Avon Fire & Rescue Service
(AF&RS) has expanded its website to bring vital fire
safety messages to users of British Sign Language
(BSL).
The site
now features nine short films, covering a range of topics including
chip pan safety advice, what to do in an emergency, planning an
escape route and how to book a Home Fire Safety
Visit.
It is
hoped the films, which have been signed by Carolyn Nabarro,
AF&RS’s Deaf Equality Officer, will reach out to a section of
the community which may not have been able to access this
information before.
AF&RS has
teamed up with the University of Bristol Centre for Deaf Studies
website, ‘DeafStation’ www.deafstation.org, who created the
site.
Andy
Colgan, AF&RS Head of Community Safety, said: “With our
community safety work we aim to cater for the whole community.
Expanding our website for people who use BSL is a fantastic way to
engage with members of the community who may have been missing out
on vital fire safety information.
“This is
just the latest in a series of initiatives we have introduced at
AF&RS to meet the needs of people who are deaf or hard of
hearing. A number of our staff have learned to sign BSL and have
been able to put this into practice.
“In
addition to the web pages and staff learning to sign, our services
for people who are deaf or hard of hearing include a fire safety
DVD in BSL, fitting free smoke detectors and providing a SMS text
message service for those wanting to book a free Home Fire Safety
Visit.”
A common
misconception about people who use BSL is that they fully
understand English, however, BSL is actually a completely different
language. BSL users therefore are not always able to understand
English, said Carolyn.
She
added; “This is a significant achievement for AF&RS in reaching
members of the Deaf community and I am delighted that we have been
able to expand our services for people who are
deaf.”
Follow the link
to access the BSL fire safety
messages
.
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