Did you know that according to a 2008 study, approximately 11.3% of American have hearing loss, yet only 28% of those with hearing loss actually wear hearing aids?  In addition, most everyone who wears hearing aids takes them out when they go to sleep at night.

This presents a problem.  Let’s imagine for a moment that there is an emergency like a fire and firefighters have to get people out of a building.  How would first responders know that they have gotten everyone to safety?

The city of Columbia does offer a free service called Smart911 through Joint Communications.

This is a great resource as you can register all kinds of special needs, such as the number of children in your household, pet information, any inhabitants who are deaf or blind, or may have Alzheimer’s, you name it.  Although it is a great resource, most people don’t use it or don’t know about it.

Perhaps the best way to confront this safety concern is simply to raise awareness of Smart911’s existence to patients through their medical professionals.

Lastly, in the hearing profession there is a system called SmartAlert that can signal to a person certain events that occur such as when a telephone rings, when the door bell is pushed, or when a smoke alarm goes off. When any of these happen, the hearing impaired person is either alerted through their hearing aids or via a bed/pillow shaker.  The product is manufactured by Bellman & Symfon and is compatible with newer Unitron brand hearing aids.