Show Me for Emergencies

Show Me for Emergencies is a free, research-based tool to aid communication between public health or emergency workers and people who may experience difficulty hearing, speaking, or understanding things. It uses easy-to-understand icons for two-way communication during an emergency.

The icons help workers in emergency settings ask questions and give clear directions. They also help people who are experiencing difficulty communicating in an emergency a way to indicate their communication preferences, medical and personal needs, feelings, and items needed for daily use. And detailed icons to describe a person’s physical appearance can help workers at Family Reunification or Family Assistance Centers gather important information.

Notable features include:

• Nearly 300 communication icons
• Option to translate icons into 13 languages
• Notepad feature to communicate via typing
• Use the app even without mobile phone service or WiFi
• Option to star icons to create a custom list

Developed by the Office of Preparedness and Emergency Management of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.