Thomas Minch chats with the Sun Journal Oct. 10 at the Maine Resiliency Center in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Sun Log file

LEWISTON — In the nights and days following the shooting on Oct. 25, 2023, people who were deaf or hard of hearing found themselves trying to track down information while grieving the loss of their loved ones.

According to Thomas Minch, a direct advocate for the deaf or disabled, many of the family members of those killed or injured who attended a cornhole tournament that night at the Schemengees Bar & Grille were gathered at a friend’s house and trying to find information for each other. Hearing at Maine Resiliency Center.

Events were evolving rapidly, and an American Sign Language interpreter was not present at the first news conference by law enforcement. There was a lot of distortion in the information that night.

“There was a sense of trauma,” Minch said. “There was shock as well as tracking the details and information.”

He said family members didn’t know if their loved ones had escaped from the bar or were still there. Deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals who witnessed the shooting had difficulty communicating with law enforcement.

He said interpreters began being used to provide access to people who were deaf or hard of hearing about 12 hours after the shooting.

An interpreter was brought in after the initial press release, but many news channels covering the event did not include the interpreters in the photo, again cutting off communication with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. But after some advocacy, news stations began to include interpreters in their broadcasts, and national networks took cues from local stations to do so.

“The national press out there was not thoughtful in providing access when they were coming into our state,” he said. “And ultimately our local news became the educators of those at the national news network, so they knew to include the (American Sign Language) interpreter.”

Meanwhile, people who are deaf or hard of hearing had difficulty communicating with staff at some of the hospitals where the victims were taken that night, he said. Nearly all of the victims were taken to Central Maine Medical Center.

He said the hospital used digital interpretation services to communicate with these individuals, but that service was still inadequate because the interpreters used on these digital platforms were not local to Maine and lacked knowledge of local sign language, and some technical issues arose. .

He said Sorenson, a communications company, provided services to people who were deaf or hard of hearing for about two weeks after the attack. Maine Resilience Center has also assisted in providing communications access for the Deaf or hard of hearing community.

He said the incident highlighted communication challenges that people who are deaf or hard of hearing already struggle with, but those struggles were exacerbated in the hours and days after the shooting.

Since then, the Maine Deaf Association has created a website that shares resources on how to seek interpreting services, but communication issues remain and numerous changes have yet to be implemented.

Minch and others advocate “a system that will work.” “There is one that is currently ineffective,” he said.

HELP HAS BEEN CANCELED

Central Maine Medical Center was on lockdown throughout the night of the shooting, with the only people allowed inside being staff with certain credentials and people needing medical treatment, according to Director of Operations John Alexander.

He said it was important to ensure the security of the building because the armed attacker was still at large. Still, some members of the public were following first responders inside. The building remained locked for nearly two days until the gunman was found dead.

Minch said some interpreters reported being turned away from some hospitals when they came to volunteer their services the night of the shooting.

Alexander said he was not aware volunteer interpreters had arrived in Central Maine that night until after the incident, but those volunteers were not allowed in because they did not have the hospital credentials required for entry.

“Looking back, one of the challenges we faced was that we very quickly locked down our hospital for obvious reasons and only allowed people with a Central Maine Healthcare badge into the building,” he said.

There was a deaf patient being treated in the emergency room that night, and the staff was able to provide them with the resources they thought they needed.

Minch said face-to-face interpreting services from local residents are always the best way to provide communication access to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“It’s always more beneficial to have a local person, to have common experience and common language, and it’s nice to have a familiar face in a crisis or emergency,” he said.

He said American Sign Language is a completely different language than English. English is a second language for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Some can visually interpret spoken language or read written English, but this skill and level of training varies among people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.

Minch said using sign language interpreting technology is challenging because many of the interpreters connected through these platforms are from out of state and have difficulty translating local signs. They also have difficulty reading body language when they are not in the same environment as the person they serve.

“If there’s a stranger who doesn’t know you, who isn’t familiar with your language, your methods, it becomes stressful,” he said. “And we want to reduce a patient’s stress.”

People embrace Oct. 25, 2023, as they wait for news of loved ones outside the emergency room at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. Deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens had difficulty obtaining information that night and in the days following the attack due to the lack of translation services. Russ Dillingham/Sun Magazine

Last year, Central Maine reviewed all emergency management preparedness practices, Alexander said. During this process, staff considered how to better assess what language resources might be needed and how to flag interpreters for transportation to the hospital.

Facing a shortage of interpreters, including American Sign Language, the hospital has increased its capacity to use translation services virtually, called “carts,” by increasing televideo capabilities, he said.

He said the hospital still plans to arrange for in-person interpreters before appointments if needed. He said providing good and adequate care and services on a daily basis, except in cases of mass casualties, is the basis of emergency preparedness.

“It shouldn’t take such a major tragedy to mobilize the necessary resources,” Alexander said. “And one of the things we’ve been able to do over the last 12 months is really look at ‘how do we gain access’ – ‘how do we communicate our need for resources outside and then bring those resources in?’”

MAINE STATE POLICE POLICY CHANGES

Minch said on the night of Oct. 25, law enforcement did not provide equal access and communication to Deaf and hard of hearing people. The After-Action Review, conducted by an outside organization and released last month, recommended that state police leaders review all policies regarding communications and interactions with people with disabilities.

Minch is working with Maine State Police officials to change policy and training approaches; He hopes that addressing situations involving individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing will be added to the curriculum, especially at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

Shannon Moss, public information officer for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said the Criminal Justice Academy is working to identify program areas that can be improved to train officers on how to effectively interact and communicate with people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.

“MCJA is currently working with various law enforcement, community and advocacy groups to review and update the training they currently have on this issue,” he said.

Moss did not provide further details about specific changes officials are considering to make to the current policy.

Minch said he is also working to create video resources for first responders around common scenarios where they might encounter a Deaf or hard-of-hearing person. He hopes it will help them communicate successfully with these individuals when responding to a call or situation.

A ‘CENTER’ OF RESOURCES AND SERVICES

Minch says he’s seen progress for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in the past year. Part of this progress is that the public is more aware of the barriers faced by individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

But he said there was still much work to be done in areas such as captioning, public access and emergency alert systems.

Another remaining challenge: There’s a shortage of American Sign Language interpreters in the state at a time when the need for those services has increased over the past year, Minch said. He hopes the state can change the licensing process to make it easier for people to get interpreter licenses.

He said the Department of Health and Human Services also contracted with Innovative Strategies to conduct a statewide needs assessment, identify existing gaps in the system and look at how the interpreter pool could be increased.

Maine Deaf Association leaders hope to open a local community center to support Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and are currently seeking grant funding to do so, Minch said. He said it is difficult to calculate how many deaf and hard of hearing individuals live locally, but it would be helpful to have a place where they can access resources and come together.

“This whole situation tells us that Deaf and hard of hearing individuals need a community center,” he said, “where all of our resources, our services, can be in one place, a hub if you will.”

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