Their faces have become recognizable to many across Pennsylvania as they join PA Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine & Governor Tom Wolf during the daily press conferences on the COVID-19 crisis.
Certified deaf interpreters are tasked with the responsibility of conveying life-saving information to the 1.2 million people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf and blind in Pennsylvania.
"I've never been involved in a pandemic before. This is new territory for all of us with the states. So, yes it's definitely the biggest challenge I've faced in my career," said Melissa Hawkins, Director for the Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Hawkins said part of that challenge is serving the requirements of all of those 1.2 million people as their communication needs are very different.
"It's almost strange that it took a pandemic to bring out the magnitude of the importance of interpreters and the importance of captioning. It shouldn't be second thought. We should do this all the time," said Hawkins.
Hawkins said the certified deaf interpreters are briefed before every state press conference. However, the information the state provides sometimes changes rapidly during the COVID-19 crisis.
"Although it can change at the very last minute we're given briefing information by the Secretary of Health and Governor Wolf," said Hawkins.
Hawkins emphasized the team of certified deaf interpreters are highly skilled and have the expertise to navigate the updated information.
Interpreters said the English language is very linear in nature where American sign language is very different by providing language which includes both facial expression and space. They said their job as interpreters is to see the differences between the two languages and melt them together.
"The only thing that might be a little bit challenging are the questions," Hawkins said as reporters are able to submit questions to state leaders during the broadcast that are not always available ahead of time to the interpreters.
Interpreters remind everyone that people who are hard of hearing rely many times on facial expressions for communication. Therefore, with people wearing masks during the health crisis, they ask everyone to be patient and kind and to write things on paper.
"I'm deaf myself and I can tell you it's terrifying seeing somebody wearing a mask. I can't see facial expressions and I don't know sometimes myself if they're talking to me," said Hawkins.
Hawkins said everyone inside the state's PEMA office wears masks and are vigilant when interacting with interpreters while wearing them. Hawkins also praised Dr. Levine for her communication during the crisis.
"Dr. Levine is amazing. She's so calm. She's so articulate with her responses," said Hawkins.
The interpreters on Hawkins' team also expressed thanks to Hawkins for her efforts during this crisis.