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How would a deaf person be alerted of fire? - News - By Roy Lewis St. Lawrence Local Community News
The shrill sound of a smoke alarm warns residents of a fire, but what would happen if the person cannot hear the warning?
Representatives from community safety organizations, including police and firefighters, are scheduled to meet today (Jan. 6) in the second of a series of meetings to address the problem of alerting a deaf person to a fire in their residence, whether it is a home or apartment building. There are special devices to warn hearing impaired persons of an emergency but, depending on the circumstances, they can be costly. Also current legislation does not specifically address alarm systems for the deaf or hard of hearing.
A business plan to outline what action is to be taken will be discussed at today's meeting, which follows an initial meeting at Brockville Fire Station Number Two organized on Dec. 16 by the city's Chief Fire Prevention Officer Randy Burke after the issue was brought to his attention by Shelly Canfield, a hearing care counsellor with The Canadian Hearing Society.
"Until Shelly approached me, I did not realize there is nothing in the current standards for fire alarms that deal specifically with the hearing impaired," said Burke.
Regulations for smoke alarms are part of the Ontario Building Code, which is currently under review. Burke said the existing definition for a smoke alarm is a unit with a self-contained smoke chamber connected to electrical or battery power with an audible signal. Such a unit is of no use to a deaf person.
Canfield, who is herself hearing impaired, said the deaf communicate by lip reading, captioning, note taking or writing and sign language. The degree of deafness may vary from having partial hearing to none at all and the loss of hearing could have been all of a sudden or gradual.
In a survey conducted in 2002, the Canadian Hearing Society found almost 25 per cent of adult Canadians report having some hearing loss. A Statistics Canada survey found 1.47 million Ontario residents over the age of 65 have hearing loss and the problem is going to get worse.
"Loss of hearing is common with our aging population, which is growing," said Canfield.
Statistics also reveal that as many as 40 per cent of seniors are deaf or hard of hearing and at least 80 per cent of the elderly living in nursing homes are hearing impaired.
Firefighters responding to an alarm may call out to determine if anyone is in the building.
"If I was asleep on my good ear, I wouldn't hear them," said Canfield.
Other problems could be created if a hearing impaired person removes their hearing aid or it pops out. Putting a sticker on a window alerting emergency responders that a hearing impaired person is inside could also have the undesirable affect of notifying criminals that the residence is home to someone who might not be able to hear them entering the house.
Electronic alerting systems are available for anyone who is deaf or has a moderate to severe hearing loss to alert them to such situations as the telephone ringing, the doorbell sounding, a baby crying or a fire alarm. These systems use a flashing strobe light or strong vibration from an extended device placed under their pillow, chair or bed to alert them of a situation. They can determine what is happening through flashing symbols on a desktop alarm clock.
Under current legislation such a device could only be connected to an existing smoke alarm. Running the power to such an alarm could be costly, according to Paul Moss of Four-O-One Security, who attended the meeting. The cost of installing such equipment could be beyond the means of many hearing impaired persons, said Burke, who noted a National Fire Protection Association study indicated 19 per cent of persons with a sensory disability live below the poverty line.
One proposal that will be adopted by emergency responders is to have an alert message in the 911 dispatch system. The message would tell a 911 dispatcher a person with a hearing disability lives in the home or apartment. The information would be forwarded by radio to police, firefighters or paramedics responding to the emergency. More information will be released in coming months on how persons with disabilities could be registered in the 911 system.
Canfield urged those attending the planning session to study the problem to "get the groundwork done now and get a program up and running."
"The lack of hearing community should not be penalized because of their disability," she said.
Among others attending the meeting were Sergeant Doug Locke, community safety officer with the Brockville Police Service, Deborah Gill, manager of program planning including housing for the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville firefighter Greg Clements, Dave Dargie, co-chair and Mitchell Salmon, coordinator of the Safe Communities Coalition, and Brent Caskenette, chief building official for the city.
The shrill sound of a smoke alarm warns residents of a fire, but what would happen if the person cannot hear the warning?
Representatives from community safety organizations, including police and firefighters, are scheduled to meet today (Jan. 6) in the second of a series of meetings to address the problem of alerting a deaf person to a fire in their residence, whether it is a home or apartment building. There are special devices to warn hearing impaired persons of an emergency but, depending on the circumstances, they can be costly. Also current legislation does not specifically address alarm systems for the deaf or hard of hearing.
A business plan to outline what action is to be taken will be discussed at today's meeting, which follows an initial meeting at Brockville Fire Station Number Two organized on Dec. 16 by the city's Chief Fire Prevention Officer Randy Burke after the issue was brought to his attention by Shelly Canfield, a hearing care counsellor with The Canadian Hearing Society.
"Until Shelly approached me, I did not realize there is nothing in the current standards for fire alarms that deal specifically with the hearing impaired," said Burke.
Regulations for smoke alarms are part of the Ontario Building Code, which is currently under review. Burke said the existing definition for a smoke alarm is a unit with a self-contained smoke chamber connected to electrical or battery power with an audible signal. Such a unit is of no use to a deaf person.
Canfield, who is herself hearing impaired, said the deaf communicate by lip reading, captioning, note taking or writing and sign language. The degree of deafness may vary from having partial hearing to none at all and the loss of hearing could have been all of a sudden or gradual.
In a survey conducted in 2002, the Canadian Hearing Society found almost 25 per cent of adult Canadians report having some hearing loss. A Statistics Canada survey found 1.47 million Ontario residents over the age of 65 have hearing loss and the problem is going to get worse.
"Loss of hearing is common with our aging population, which is growing," said Canfield.
Statistics also reveal that as many as 40 per cent of seniors are deaf or hard of hearing and at least 80 per cent of the elderly living in nursing homes are hearing impaired.
Firefighters responding to an alarm may call out to determine if anyone is in the building.
"If I was asleep on my good ear, I wouldn't hear them," said Canfield.
Other problems could be created if a hearing impaired person removes their hearing aid or it pops out. Putting a sticker on a window alerting emergency responders that a hearing impaired person is inside could also have the undesirable affect of notifying criminals that the residence is home to someone who might not be able to hear them entering the house.
Electronic alerting systems are available for anyone who is deaf or has a moderate to severe hearing loss to alert them to such situations as the telephone ringing, the doorbell sounding, a baby crying or a fire alarm. These systems use a flashing strobe light or strong vibration from an extended device placed under their pillow, chair or bed to alert them of a situation. They can determine what is happening through flashing symbols on a desktop alarm clock.
Under current legislation such a device could only be connected to an existing smoke alarm. Running the power to such an alarm could be costly, according to Paul Moss of Four-O-One Security, who attended the meeting. The cost of installing such equipment could be beyond the means of many hearing impaired persons, said Burke, who noted a National Fire Protection Association study indicated 19 per cent of persons with a sensory disability live below the poverty line.
One proposal that will be adopted by emergency responders is to have an alert message in the 911 dispatch system. The message would tell a 911 dispatcher a person with a hearing disability lives in the home or apartment. The information would be forwarded by radio to police, firefighters or paramedics responding to the emergency. More information will be released in coming months on how persons with disabilities could be registered in the 911 system.
Canfield urged those attending the planning session to study the problem to "get the groundwork done now and get a program up and running."
"The lack of hearing community should not be penalized because of their disability," she said.
Among others attending the meeting were Sergeant Doug Locke, community safety officer with the Brockville Police Service, Deborah Gill, manager of program planning including housing for the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville firefighter Greg Clements, Dave Dargie, co-chair and Mitchell Salmon, coordinator of the Safe Communities Coalition, and Brent Caskenette, chief building official for the city.