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Fire safety advice for deaf residents |
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Firefighters trained in British Sign Language are giving expert fire safety advice to members of the deaf community in the West Midlands. They are also able to fit specialist smoke alarms designed to alert residents with hearing problems should a fire ever occur in their home. Robin Parkes from West Midlands Fire Service’s Fire Safety Centre in Aston, said: “We have done a great deal of work with the deaf community to make sure our vital safety messages can be communicated effectively. “This has involved establishing focus groups with members of the deaf community to guide our work, training people in BSL, making specialist smoke alarms available and being the first fire service to launch pages on the website featuring BSL. “It is all part of our commitment to working with all sections of our communities, including those who we may not reach through mainstream channels for a variety of reasons, such as language or cultural barriers.”
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