Home Safety Considerations for the Hearing Impaired

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Home Safety Considerations for the Hearing Impaired
One aspect of hearing loss which is
seldom discussed is the basic decrease in
safety of those who have hearing
difficulties. For example, suppose that a
fire breaks out in your home; if you are
like most people you have smoke
detectors to sound an alert so that you
and your loved ones can evacuate the
house before a fire spreads too far and traps you. But now imagine that the
fire breaks out at night, when you’re asleep, and you’ve taken off your
hearing aids.
Nearly all smoke alarms (or similar carbon monoxide detectors), including
nearly all units approved and mandated by city and state governments,
produce a loud warning sound between the frequencies of 3000 – 4000 Hz.
And while the majority of people can hear these sounds without difficulty,
these frequencies are among those most affected by age-related hearing
loss and other forms of auditory impairment. So if you are one of the more
than eleven million Americans with hearing problems, there’s a possibility
that you simply wouldn’t hear your smoke detector even if you were awake.
Fortunately, there are home safety products that are specifically created for
the needs of the hearing impaired. For instance, there are smoke detectors
that emit a low-frequency (520 Hertz) square wave sound that most
hearing-impaired people can hear. If you are fully deaf without your hearing
aids or when you turn off your cochlear implants (CIs), you’ll find alarm
systems which use a mix of flashing lights, loud alarms, and vibrating units
that shake your bed to wake you up in an emergency. Many of these
systems are intended to be integrated into more complete home security
systems to warn you of intruders or neighbors thumping furiously on your
doors in the event of an emergency.
To hear other sounds which might indicate danger, many hearing-impaired
people have set up induction loops in their homes to improve the efficiency
of their hearing aids or CIs. These systems are in essence long strands of

wire placed in a loop around your family room, kitchen, or bedrooms. These
serve to activate the telecoils embedded in your hearing aid or cochlear
implant that increase the volume of sound; this can be useful in emergency
situations.
We shouldn’t forget the basic telephone, which is indispensable during an
emergency of any kind. Thankfully, a number of modern mobile and
residential telephones are now telecoil-compatible, to allow their use by
those wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants. Other telephone models
incorporate speakerphone systems with very high volumes that can be used
by the hearing impaired, and more notably, can be voice-activated. So if you
fell and hurt yourself out of reach of the phone, you could still voice-dial for
assistance. Other companies make vibrating wristbands that communicate
with your cell phone to awaken you or inform you if you get a phone call.

Naturally, some home safety tips for the hearing impaired are the exact
same as for those who can hear well, such as trying to keep lists of your
doctors, emergency service providers, and hospitals close at hand. If we
may be of assistance to you in helping to make your home safer for the
hearing impaired, give us a call; we’ll be happy to help.

Home Safety Considerations for the Hearing Impaired

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Home Safety Considerations for the Hearing Impaired