The Commission on Disability at its meeting Monday night decided to invite the town’s police chief, police lieutenant and fire chief to a Sept. 19 meeting to discuss how to implement its initiative to help first responders identify and assist people with disabilities during emergencies.

Member Nancy “Punky” Drawe has been working on the project for several months. In an update to the committee, she said she had spoken with Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett and Hopkinton Fire Chief Gary Daugherty about compiling a database of people with various disabilities so that they would know how best to respond.

“Chief Bennett said he was totally on board with this,” said Drawe.

She added that Daugherty had also given her some input. Town Manager Elaine Lazarus advised her about creating a press release once the commission finalized the details.

For example, police and firefighters should not use sirens or flashing lights when assisting people with sensory issues. People who have mental health issues need to be approached in a calm manner. Participation in this database would be voluntary and could only be accessed by emergency personnel in response to a 911 call.

Drawe said this idea apparently was brought up at a recent meeting she wasn’t made aware of that involved the Hopkinton Senior Center, Bennett, Daugherty and Youth & Family Services.

Chair Holly Morand, who works for Youth & Family Services as a resource counselor and case manager, said she was present at the meeting. The meeting, she said, was called by Amy Beck, the director of senior services, to discuss a “wanderers program.”

That idea, Morand explained, was to create a database of older residents or potentially those with other disabilities who may have a tendency to wander. It would list emergency contacts as well as pictures of people and locations where they likely would be found. This would help first responders by cutting down time devoted to searches.

She added that there may have been some confusion among the meeting participants, who linked the two projects together.

“This was supposed to be the Commission on Disability’s project,” stressed Drawe.

“My fear is that it’s like too many cooks in the kitchen.” Moran agreed. “It’s going to become unwieldy, and I think these two things should be separate.”

The commission decided to hold a special meeting on Sept. 19, with Bennett, Daugherty and HPD Lt. Scott van Raalten invited. Then the distinct goals of this program could be explained so that everyone would be in alignment as to how to proceed with its implementation and a press release.

Vice chair Alex Danahy said that the two databases potentially could be combined, “but we need someone to totally break it down.”

Danielle Cook, the library’s reference and technology supervisor, suggested that the two populations described could be synthesized into the same database. This would assist dispatchers by giving them only one resource to check. Some categories may not be applicable to every entry.

“There are many places where they don’t overlap,” she said. “But even though some interactions may take place inside the home and some may take outside the home, the approaches may be similar.”

Member Amy Ritterbusch noted that the Hopkinton Police Department has an online form requesting information similar to what the wanderers program was hoping to achieve. It included entries for a person’s height, weight and race as well as allergies and emergency contacts.

Danahy suggested that during the Sept. 19 meeting, commission members could suggest other categories or details that should be added to update this form to make it more inclusive.

Proposed cable show receives enthusiastic response

Rather than having Commission on Disability meetings broadcast on HCAM-TV, commission members agreed that a better approach would be to have a periodic cable show that would illustrate different perspectives on disabilities.

“I think this is an exciting way to engage folks in the community,” said member Nancy Cavanaugh.

Danahy volunteered to take the lead on this project. He suggested a segment where he could be filmed demonstrating the challenges people who use wheelchairs face when trying to enter town buildings. Parking was another pet peeve he described.

Said Danahy: “I would go to every parking lot in this town to prove a point if I had to.”

Ritterbusch added that examples should be shown of buildings that have good accessibility as models.

Danahy suggested going through a list of problems commission members have detected over the past year and prioritizing the top three to propose for initial shows.

Morand suggested segments on people with audio or visual impairments as well as those who have neurodiverse needs and “how they navigate the town.”

If people did not want to be on camera, they would be effective as narrators, Dahay noted.

Said Danahy: “I think straight from the horse’s mouth is the best way to go.”

Regarding increasing the understanding of people who don’t have disabilities or knowledge about them, he explained that people generally have good intentions.

“I think one of the biggest people have, especially when it comes to social etiquette, is that they don’t have the experience,” he said. “They don’t have the experience, but they want to do something. This could probably negate some of those awkward interactions.”

As the show gains traction, Danahy and others said they hoped the public would reach out with their areas of concern for future shows.

Library purchases accessibility equipment

Cook told the commission that the library recently purchased a GRIT freedom chair. This wheelchair has bicycle-type tires that allow for better traction on all types of terrain. It can be pushed by someone or propelled by the user with arm handles. It should be available for people to borrow in the near future, she said.

The library also used this grant to purchased a system that will allow for personal amplification of speakers in the main room. People with auditory issues will be able to request headsets to hear the voices of guest speakers. For children, some sensory toys were purchased.