Tadas Maroscikas, Deputy Head, and Darius Indrišionis, Call-taker, Lithuanian Emergency Response Centre and Kęstutis Vaišnora, President of the Lithuanian Deaf Association, Lithuania - Emergency App for People with Hearing Loss

1. EENA Conference, 07-10-2021, Rīga
Tadas Maroščikas, Emergency Response Centre
Darius Indrišionis, Emergency Response Centre
Kęstutis Vaišnora, Lithuanian Association of the Deaf
Emergency App
for People with
Hearing Loss

2. Emergency Response Chain
2
Ambulance
Call Taker/ Dispatcher
112 Call Taker
2
Environmental Dispatcher
112
App ”112 Lietuva”
112 SMS
eCall
116000 112 Fire Dispatcher
Police Dispatcher
113
Non-emergency medical
consultation

3. ERC organization/units
3
112 Call Centre
Klaipėda
112 Call Centre
Vilnius
3
Klaipėda PSAP
60 call taker/fire
dispatcher terminals
Alytus Fire CCC
7 fire dispatcher
terminals
Vilnius PSAP
60 call taker/fire
dispatcher terminals
Fixed
Mobile
Fixed
Mobile
Mobile
Mobile
Mobile
Mobile
Enterprise-grade

4. Needs/grounds for the App
» ~6000 Deaf, ~40000 Hearing impaired;
» Main communications – Lithuanian Sign Language,
recognized official language;
» 112 SMS service (since 2014) too slow and
inconvenient to text in an emergency;
» Quite specific written language of the Deaf people;
» Good 4G/LTE coverage;
» Good penetration of smartphones among the Deaf;
» Ease of use of other apps (Viber, WhatsApp, etc.).
4

5. The App “112 Lietuva”
» Full ecosystem developed: Mobile App + Server platform
+ Call Taker‘s console (CAD);
» Google Android, Apple iOS;
» Video call or Real Time Text chat + location data;
» GUI in 4 languages – Lithuanian, Polish, English & Russian;
» Need for an initial registration and number confirmation;
» Available for the deaf people only – no access to the
wide public;
» Restricted to +370... prefix only;
» Start from 1st July 2020. 5

6. Other features
» Smartphone permissions;
» Too low bandwidth for video – switch to text chat;
» Video and photo attachments;
» “Delivered” & “Read” indicators;
» Blacklist;
» Call-back both videos and text chat;
» Text templates for call takers.
6

7. Call Taking Process
» Synergy!!!
» Voice call and text chat available for the deaf;
» App dedicated CAD is handled by 112 ERC call taker;
» On-site 24x7 sign language interpreter helps to communicate with
a caller;
» On-site sign language interpreter also provides non-emergency
interpretation services via Skype.
7

8. 8
App CAD + regular CAD

9. Awareness & Training
» Synergy again!!!
» Visits to local Deaf communities and demonstrations
https://bpc.lrv.lt/lt/galerija/susitikimai-su-kurciuju-bendruomenes-
nariais;
» Dedicated dates and time slots for realistic test calls;
» 112 App‘s Educational pages run by Lithuanian Deaf Association
http://www.lkd.lt/informacija-apie-numerio-112-mobiliaja-
programele and ERC https://bpc.lrv.lt/lt/pagalbos-
iskvietimas/mobilioji-programele.
9

10. Numbers in 1 year of operation
» 1300 registered users;
» Real time texts – 934, video calls – 1353 including training;
» Real incidents reported:
▪ Ambulance – 62;
▪ Police – 59;
▪ Fire – 1;
▪ Other/consultations – 22.
10

11. Feedback from the Deaf
» Useful & convenient emergency access tool for the Deaf;
» Fear to forget to use the app due to rear use;
» Need for continued training;
» Desired support for tablets;
» Desired support for foreign prefixes along with (+370...).
11

12. Feedback from Call Takers
» Quite easy to use due to resemblance to existing CAD;
» Text chat takes longer time than video call;
» Integration with the current CAD would save time;
» Sign language interpreters are critical.
12

13. Tadas Maroščikas
Darius Indrišionis
Kęstutis Vaišnora
Thank You