Bed Shaker alarms have begun being installed by the Plover Fire Department as a creative way to alert people who are deaf of fires.
Plover Fire Department Deputy Chief Trevor Howard shared: “The alarm, when a smoke detector goes off it’ll, it will alert and the system we installed today picks up on that alert and then creates a vibration under the bed to wake up or notify folks.”
On 16 May, the Plover Fire Department installed its fourth bed shaker alarm of the year for 10-year-old Mateo Villa, who is deaf.
Mateo, who has had cochlear implants since he was four, said: ”It feels like, like shaking me, like someone’s shaking me. Yeah, I will probably wake up from it.”
His father, Roberto added: “Oh, it was great. After he got the cochlear, he just started listening and laughing and then later on, he just started to get out more words.”
At night, he takes them off for silence. Mateo shared how he takes them off at night for silence, saying: “I like to be deaf, because every time I go to sleep I take off my cochlear implants and if something happens like a thunderstorm, I cannot hear anything. I can just stay sleeping.”
This may be an advantage for sleeping for Mateo, but people who are deaf have a hurdle when it comes to fire safety. That’s where the American Red Cross and local fire departments come in.
Deputy Chief Howard said: “Best thing for us is to get the word out so people know what is available to them.”
He says they can also install strobe flashing alarms, but bed shaker alarms have been gaining traction recently.
Roberto spoke on the Bed Shaker alarm, saying: “I think we’re gonna feel safer, because now he’s gonna be able to hear the fire alarm, so it’s great.”
The Plover Fire Department has begun installing Bed Shaker fire alarms in the homes of deaf people as a way of improving fire safety.
