Aphasia Awareness Training for Emergency Responders: Train the Trainers

摘要

First responders rarely receive training on aphasia but they are more likely to encounter a person with aphasia (PWA) than someone with multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy (Will & Peters, 2004). Many of them do not know what aphasia is, much less how to communicate with a person with the disorder. This paper presents a unique Aphasia Awareness Training Program to educate police, firefighters and EMTs to understand aphasia, recognize signs of aphasia in emergency situations and communicate effectively with PWA.  Quantitative and qualitative data on the effectiveness of the program are discussed along with future implications.