SDIS Firefighters from Calvados provide sign language training to the Monaco Fire and Emergency Service

Formation de sapeurs-pompiers de Monaco à la langue des signes par des experts du SDIS 14. ©Direction de la Communication

Teachers from the Calvados fire and emergency service (SDIS), including two volunteer firefighters and experts – one of whom is deaf-mute and the other an interpreter – are in the Principality for three days to provide sign language training to firefighters in Monaco.

The Calvados SDIS 14 fire service launched MC ASSIST in 2017. The project is aimed at improving communication between fire personnel and deaf or hearing-impaired victims. An inability to communicate effectively can be a source of major anxiety and potentially worsen the state of health of these individuals. Learning to use around twenty signs, however, allows firefighters to communicate and calm victims in the critical first minutes of a rescue situation.

As part of its disability policy, the Monaco Fire and Emergency Service has established a partnership with the Calvados SDIS 14 fire service to train staff in this essential skill. The objective is to build a network of qualified staff that can train their colleagues in turn, thereby improving the assistance provided to victims with this disability.

The initiative is fully in line with the Handipact policy launched in December 2023 to make Monaco an excellent example of the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Lionel Beffre, Minister of the Interior, Christophe Robino, Minister of Health and Social Affairs, and Lionel Galfré, Technical Advisor for Disability Issues, visited the Fontvieille Fire Station to attend a presentation of the training programme.