Here's a story about a woman named Mary Wallace,
whose inability to hear a fire alarm nearly cost her her life. She was
fortunate to have a hearing neighbor who got her out of her burning
apartment. She later got a vibrating fire alarm that is appropriate for
a person with hearing loss.
December 2007 - Study Results of Smoke Alarm
Effectiveness
March 2008 - Horseradish Smell Smoke Alarm Effective
for People with Hearing Loss
May 2008 - Inventor connects smoke detector, alarm
clock
March 2009 - Smoke Alarms for Sleeping Adults Who are
Hard-of-Hearing: Comparison of Auditory, Visual, and Tactile Signals
April 2009 - New Alarm Technology More Effective at
Waking People Than Standard Smoke Alarms
June 2009 -
SafeAwake Exhibits at HLAA Convention
June 2009 - National Fire Alarm Code Update Benefits
People with Hearing Loss
July 2009 - Deaf Man Saved from Fire by Bed Vibrator
July 2009 - Low Frequency Smoke Alarms Fit the Bill
December 2009 - Low Frequency Smoke Alarm Not Just for
People with Hearing Loss
December 2009 - New smoke alarm does better job of
waking kids
February 2010 - Alarming Facts About Smoke Detectors and
what to do about it
April 2010 - SafeAwake Smoke Alarm Gets UL
Certification
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December 2007
I don't understand the lack of urgency over the issue
of smoke alarms and people with hearing loss. I don't think anyone
questions the notion that most current alarms do NOT do a good job of
waking people with hearing loss. Yet I see little concern over the issue
and little effort to change things.
Here's a good, clear presentation of the issue and what can be done to
improve existing systems. And it's presented at the layman level!
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March 2008
A new type of fire alarm in Japan has been
developed using the pungent smell of horseradish. The device is drawing
attention as a new way to warn people with hearing disabilities. Medical
equipment manufacturers have developed a technology to extract components
of the strong odor of horseradish, seal them inside a can and spray them
out. Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital cooperated with the
makers and carried out experiments to see if the horseradish smell can
wake up people from a deep sleep. Fourteen people, including those with
hearing disabilities, took part in the experiments. In the experiment, 13
out of the 14 subjects woke up in less than two minutes after the smell
reached their noses. The people with hearing disabilities were
particularly quick to wake up, with one person emerging from sleep in just
10 seconds. Assistant professor Makoto Imai at Shiga University of Medical
Science says the experiment was useful to ensure that the new device
allows those with hearing disabilities to escape during an emergency. The
makers intend to put the fire alarm on the market in two years.
Full Story
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May 2008
InnovAlarm's first target audience will be people
with high-frequency hearing loss, Colello said. High-frequency hearing
diminishes rapidly as people over the age of 60 get older, he said. "That
is roughly 35 million people in the U.S. today," he said. "We will reach
them through hearing loss retailers, hearing aid sellers including
professionals, TV retailers like QVC and other small venues." The company
should have its first product on the market in the first quarter of next
year, said Colello. The InnovAlarm technology detects the shrill,
high-frequency sounds made by smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and
delivers it to the bedside of users in deep, 520 hertz tones that will
wake the deepest sleepers, Albert said. Children, older adults and even
college age students are vulnerable. In fact, college age students who
sometimes go to sleep in an intoxicated state and can't hear
high-frequency fire detectors are a potential InnovAlarm market. Albert
cited the fire at a North Carolina resort last October that claimed the
lives of seven college students as an example.
Full Story
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March 2009
Objectives: People who are hard-of-hearing may rely on auditory,
visual, or tactile alarms in a fire emergency, and US standards require
strobe lights in hotel bedrooms to provide emergency notification for
people with hearing loss. This is the first study to compare the waking
effectiveness of a variety of auditory (beeps), tactile (bed and pillow
shakers), and visual (strobe lights) signals at a range of intensities.
Design: Three auditory signals, a bed shaker, a pillow shaker, and
strobe lights were presented to 38 adults (aged 18 to 80 yr) with mild to
moderately severe hearing loss of 25 to 70 dB (in both ears), during
slow-wave sleep (deep sleep). Two of the auditory signals were selected on
the basis that they had the lowest auditory thresholds when awake (from a
range of eight signals). The third auditory signal was the current 3100-Hz
smoke alarm. All auditory signals were tested below, at, and above the
decibel level prescribed by the applicable standard for bedrooms (75 dBA).
In the case of bed and pillow shakers intensities below, at, and above the
level as purchased were tested. For strobe lights three levels were used,
all of which were above the applicable standard. The intensity level at
which participants awoke was identified by electroencephalograph
monitoring.
Results: The most effective signal was a 520-Hz square wave auditory
signal, waking 92% at 75 dBA, compared with 56% waking to the 75 dBA
high-pitched alarm. Bed and pillow shakers awoke 80 to 84% at the
intensity level as purchased. The strobe lights awoke only 27% at an
intensity above the US standard. Nonparametric analyses confirmed that the
520-Hz square wave signal was significantly more effective than the
current smoke alarm and the strobe lights in waking this population.
Conclusions: A low-frequency square wave signal has now been found to
be significantly more effective than all tested alternatives in a number
of populations (hard-of-hearing, children, older adults, young adults,
alcohol impaired) and should be adopted across the whole population as the
normal smoke alarm signal. Strobe lights, even at high intensities, are
ineffective in reliably waking people with mild to moderate hearing loss.
Full Story
(Requires registration and possibly a fee)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2009
A deaf man has been injured in an arson attack on
a block of flats in West Sussex. It is thought the man's life may have
been saved because a vibrating pad, known as a fire angel, which is placed
under the pillow, alerted him. He was able to put the fire out himself but
was taken to hospital for treatment after breathing in smoke. West Sussex
Fire and Rescue Service said they believed flammable material had been put
through the letter box.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2009
Statistics show smoke detectors double your
chances of surviving a house fire. Every day, however, many vulnerable
people sleep right through them. A new type of smoke alarm is available
that aims to save more lives. In a recent study, just 14 percent of
children under 16 woke up to a traditional smoke alarm. An amazing 96
percent woke up to this new type of alarm. It's why, beginning in 2014,
they will be required in all buildings, including hotels, dorms and
nursing homes. If our test results are any indication, you might also
find them in more homes. [snip] The newer and perhaps better smoke alarm
puts out a different type of sound. Instead of the high-pitch 3,000 hertz
of a regular smoke alarm, this new alarm combines a lower frequency of 520
hertz with higher ones to reach more people.
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2009
Statistics show smoke detectors double your
chances of surviving a house fire. Every day, however, many vulnerable
people sleep right through them. A new type of smoke alarm is available
that aims to save more lives. In a recent study, just 14 percent of
children under 16 woke up to a traditional smoke alarm. An amazing 96
percent woke up to this new type of alarm. It's why, beginning in 2014,
they will be required in all buildings, including hotels, dorms and
nursing homes. If our test results are any indication, you might also
find them in more homes. "When it starts to grow, a fire will double in
size every 60 seconds, so every minute does count," said Springfield Fire
Marshal Phil Noah. Sadly, it's those who are most vulnerable in a fire who
sleep through smoke alarms most often: children.
Full
Story
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February 2010
There is an assumption that the majority of
residential fire fatalities occur when there are not any smoke detectors
installed in the home. However, data compiled by the U.S. Fire
Administration show that when someone perishes in a home fire, 40% of the
time a working smoke detector was actually present. While there are most
likely multiple factors contributing to a 40% residential fire fatality
rate in the presence of a working smoke detector, one issue that needs to
be addressed involves the apparent limitations of current smoke detectors
in effectively arousing individuals with hearing loss.
Full Story
