The emergency communication board was developed by the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) at the University of Pretoria in collaboration with Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Assistive Technology (DART). The purpose of the emergency communication board is to create a communication channel between English and Portuguese speaking health care staff and patients. This emergency board consists of essential health and medical information, and is supported by pictures in both the Portuguese and English words to ensure there is effective communication. The health care staff will make use of the pictures when communicating with a patient, and the patient will respond by pointing at a picture. The pictures on the emergency board are designed in such a way that they are gender, age and culturally appropriate. The use of pictures to support the interaction will assist in eliminating possible communication challenges and misunderstandings.
