That\u2019s a real concern for people with hearing loss in Katy<\/strong>, who are less likely to be able to hear the smoke detector.<\/p>\n There is little doubt that smoke alarms save lives.<\/p>\n Since their introduction in the late 1960s, fire-related fatalities dropped from 10,000 a year to about half that number by the 1990s.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no wonder R&D Magazine<\/em> readers voted smoke alarms as one of the \u201c30 Products that Changed Our Lives.\u201d Unfortunately, they aren\u2019t always loud enough to warn people with hearing loss.<\/p>\n Traditional smoke alarms emit signals averaging 3,150 Hz.<\/p>\n This is plenty loud enough to awaken people with normal hearing but won\u2019t necessarily do the trick for hearing-impaired individuals.<\/p>\n Hearing loss<\/a> usually affects the higher frequencies, making it difficult to hear high-pitched sounds.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why folks have more trouble understanding women and children, whose voices are generally higher.<\/p>\n The solution would be a smoke detector that delivers sounds around 520 Hz.<\/p>\n A study by the Fire Protection Research Foundation<\/a> (FPRF), a nonprofit group that gathers data on fire and building safety, found that smoke alarms in that range were considerably more effective at waking people with hearing loss.<\/p>\n Their results, published in a 2007 paper titled Waking Effectiveness of Alarms for Adults Who Are Hard of Hearing, <\/em>found that conventional detectors awakened 57 percent of test subjects.<\/p>\n Low-pitched alarms, by contrast, woke up 90 percent of participants at the minimally-acceptable fire code sound level of 75 decibels for 30 seconds.<\/p>\n Even more impressive? At 95 decibels, every single person woke up.<\/p>\n Clearly, a low-frequency smoke detector would be far more effective at alerting people with hearing loss in Katy<\/strong> to danger.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, such devices aren\u2019t currently available.<\/p>\n Part of the problem may be that most investigations into fire-related fatalities do not look at potential hearing disabilities as a contributing factor, so few are aware of the dangers and there is little urgency on the part of manufacturers to come up with alternatives to a product that has been clearly demonstrated to save a significant number of lives.<\/p>\n FPRF director Kathleen Almand hopes her group\u2019s study will help convince manufacturers of smoke detectors and other alerting devices to develop products in the 500 Hz range.<\/p>\n Until such devices become available, it\u2019s important to understand your rights.<\/p>\n Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), hotels, motels and other public facilities that provide sleeping accommodations are required to provide effective access to the buildings alarm system for hearing-impaired or disabled guests.<\/p>\n If you are booking a room and that service is not available, you can file a complaint at www.ada.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the meantime, your Katy audiologist<\/a> is happy to give you tips on improving your safety if you are experiencing hearing loss<\/strong>.<\/p>\nHearing Loss & High Frequencies<\/h2>\n
![\"firefighters](\"https:\/\/tohear.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/fire-alarm-.jpeg\" "\\"fire")
<\/p>\nSmoke Alarm Solution for Hearing Impaired<\/h2>\n
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