This unique and innovative training package designed for 9-1-1 personnel who have not had in-depth experience in interacting with people who have hearing and speech impairments, especially during emergencies. The goal of the training package is to enable 9-1-1 telecommunicators to successfully handle emergency TTY calls. The development of the package was funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

The complete training package contains:

• 58-minute Training DVD 

• Trainer’s Guide with Resource Manual

• Training Participant Workbooks (5) 

• Certificates of Completion (5)

• Hot Sheet of Critical Information

• Interactive TTY Emergency Call Simulation Software 

• Information Collection Sheets (20)

The training has been divided into four segments which are reflected in the videotape and print materials:

1. Who are the Deaf and Hard of Hearing?

2. How to Use a TTY

3. Understanding Language Differences

4. Responding to Emergencies

Training can be implemented using an in-house trainer, an IDRT trainer, or by participants themselves. The trainer has the flexibility of using the training package in its entirety at a single session, using each segment in separate training sessions, or integrating it into a 9-1-1 training program already in use.