Emergency Service Access for Deaf (From Bridgwater Mercury)

Emergency Service Access for Deaf

11:40am Friday 2nd January 2009

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POLICE in Somerset hope to give deaf and hard of hearing people better access to emergency services, via a live video link.

Avon and Somerset Police are taking part in an £8 million European project - called Reach 112 - to develop the technology for the video link over the next three years.

If it is successful, people who use sign language will be able to connect with emergency services and with each other across Europe.

Ch Insp Martin Hull said: "We plan to site a video terminal in the force service centre and we will employ a trained signer to sit with a call handler so the deaf and hard of hearing can talk directly to us.

"As a force, we will provide better services for the deaf and hard of hearing community in the future. This is better than texting, which can be stilted and long winded, as signing is done in real time. It gives people direct access to us and is more interactive and quicker than texting."

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