We sensitised 112 emergency staff with our guide dogs

We held a sensitisation session at the 112 Call Centre in Miskolc. We were pleased to accept the invitation, as we consider it of utmost importance that the staff of the emergency call centre should be better informed about visually impaired people. We have sensitised around 60 call centre operators on two occasions and, in agreement with them, we hope that they will be able to better identify the barriers to help and assist people with visual impairments.

In an emergency situation, vision is crucial, and its total or partial loss leaves the visually impaired person vulnerable to a degree that the person receiving the emergency call must take into account. During our sensitisation session, we talked to participants about the different types of visual impairment, how visually impaired people can navigate, and recalled a specific case of one of our guide dogs being attacked.

Regarding the mentioned case, we have stated our position that in the case of a dog that is unfit to work, i.e. to guide, call operators should always ask the police to send a patrol to the scene. We found agreement on this from the call handlers, but they added that it is not their’s, but the local police stations’ decision to send a patrol or not, but we also agreed that they could influence their decision by their preparedness.

Our Foundation’s psychologist and IT specialist are visually impaired persons who use guide dogs. With the help of Ádám Balogh and Zoltán Vida, we have collected a set of questions that can be used in the training of 112 operators. The 10-point proposal was handed over to the 112 centre in Miskolc, where we were promised that it would become part of their internal training material and would be distributed to all colleagues concerned, as they have hundreds of call centre operators nationwide.

Ten points for visually impaired people!

  1. If a caller claims to be visually impaired, it is important to know the extent of the visual impairment (how much can he see?).
  2. What method of transport he uses: a white cane or a guide dog?
  3. If with a white cane, is he holding the tool?
  4. Is there any help around him that he knows about?
  5. Does he know where he is (because he cannot fully assess his surroundings, he cannot be sure if the danger has passed)?
  6. If the visually impaired person does not know where he is, the operator answering the call should ask him to use his phone to determine his location (GPS, positioning.)
  7. If the visually impaired person is unable to give any information about his surroundings, the operator may ask him to listen to the sounds in the environment. He should be listening for: vehicle sounds, traffic, public transport sounds, human speech, footsteps (if he can hear human speech, advise him to shout out for help).
  8. If the guide dog was attacked, it is important to ask what kind of injury the dog has sustained. It should not be assumed that the dog is fit to do its job after any injury.
  9. The call-taking operator should ask the visually impaired person not to go any further with the injured dog, but to wait for assistance.
  10. If the visually impaired person is unable to assess the surroundings and his guide dog is injured, they are in a vulnerable situation and it is important to get additional agencies involved.

In the photos You can see Ádám Balogh, our Foundation’s psychologist and Piroska Komondi, our Foundation’s professional leader