Sign language interpreter used gibberish, warned of bears, monsters during Hurricane Irma update

[jpak]

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/sign_language_interpreter_used.html

Officials in Manatee County, Florida are under fire after an interpreter for the deaf warned about pizza and monsters during an emergency briefing related to Hurricane Irma.

The interpreter, Marshall Greene, a lifeguard for the county, has a brother who is deaf, according to the DailyMoth, a video news site that provides information via American Sign Language. Greene was used as the interpreter for a Sept. 8 press conference regarding the incoming storm and possible evacuations.

Members of the deaf community said Greene mostly signed gibberish, referencing "pizza," "monsters," and using the phrase "help you at that time to use bear big," during the event. Other information signed to viewers was incomplete, experts said.

The county typically uses interpreters from VisCom, a professional sign language interpreting service. VisCom owner Charlene McCarthy told local media she was not contacted about providing services for the press conference and that Greene was apparently not fluent in American Sign Language.

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[Iggo]

1. Yeah, but I bet they saved a bunch of money.

Greedy dipshits.

[janterry]

2. This was wrong

I don't know if there was a protocol not followed or if the admins simply panicked or what. It also could put lives at risk.

It's even disrespectful of the deaf community (not sure that's what marshall intended, but it's the overall implication of punting when they should have hired a real interpreter.

HOWEVER, Marshall agreed to do it because he was asked (he probably felt like he could help, so he did) and MOST people who are deaf and hard of hearing DON'T use sign language (90%). Usually, they used closed captioning.

This is important as a story because they need to resolve this issue. But it likely wasn't as dangerous as the article purports.