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American Sign Language interpreter Mar Koskie remembers the flood of ‘97 and is working with other deaf interpreters to make sure information on Manitoba’s latest emergency — COVID-19 — is getting to deaf Manitobans.

Koskie is one of the deaf interpreters signing at the daily provincial COVID-19 updates being livestreamed.

ASL is the Winnipeg man’s first language and he says it’s important for Manitoba’s deaf community to get the info they need interpreted in a way they understand.

Interpreted COVID-19 Updates Click to Expand To watch provincial COVID-19 updates with ASL interpretation, visit Manitoba's COVID-19 website or the province's channel on YouTube.

Every day, Koskie can be seen on the internet interpreting the daily briefings with Manitoba’s chief public health officer and Shared Health’s chief nursing officer as they share the latest COVID-19 developments in the province.

"It’s so important — so crucial — that this information is getting out to the community," Koskie said through a hearing interpreter.

Back in 1997, a hearing interpreter appeared on a local TV station interpreting the latest government updates on the Flood of the Century.

Since Wednesday, Koskie and other deaf interpreters can be seen in the web, on YouTube, on YouTube and the Government of Manitoba website, interpreting the statements of health officials and question-and-answer sessions with the news media.

As do many ASL interpreters, he wears a black long-sleeved shirt so that his hands and face stand out.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mar Koskie, American sign language interpreter, ensures deaf people understand the information relayed by the province.

"It’s important to make our hands very visible," he said.

Since he started interpreting for the COVID-19 briefings he’s switched backdrops from black to light blue to make sure he’s easier to see. That’s after getting feedback from viewers, which he welcomes and looks for to enhance his work.

"It’s an everyday self-assessment," he said.

He’s behind the scenes, with an English-language hearing interpreter who asked to remain anonymous, and they both work for ECCOE E-Quality Communication Centre of Excellence.

"She’s listening in English, she puts it into American Sign Language and I provide the nuances of my language," Koskie said.

"For example, when you say the expression ‘please call,’ please call is a very hearing-based concept," he said. Calling, for deaf people, would mean we’re using video relay services or TTY (teletypewriter), a more archaic service. It gets interpreted to, ‘please use video relay service or TTY,’" said Koskie.

The ASL interpreters are vital lifelines during times of disaster and national emergencies around the world, and have become familiar faces to people glued to electronic screens for the latest news.

As is the case with any language, ASL interpreters have accents.

"You can see the accent," he said, from South America through different regions of the U.S. "I can see they’re not Canadian deaf." And there are differences in Canada; there are distinctions between British Columbia and the Maritimes and the Prairies, he said.

What’s universal is the need to get accurate information from official sources to everyone, and that’s what he’s there to do during the COVID-19 pandemic, Koskie said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca