Smoke Alarm and Fire Prevention Program Helping the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

New Hanover County Fire Rescue was awarded a 2012 Fire & Life Safety – Assistance to Firefighters Grant by FEMA. The focus of this grant was to extend the existing Smoke Alarm and Fire Prevention Program to meet the special needs of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Through the grant, the county’s Fire Rescue was able to purchase smoke alarms with 10-year lithium batteries in order to minimize the need for occupant maintenance. Smoke alarms were provided to both hearing and deaf/hard-of-hearing households. In addition, the grant allowed Fire Rescue to install assistive devices, referred to as bed shakers, in households to work in conjunction with a smoke alarm. These devices are able to alert the deaf and hard of hearing if a smoke alarm is activated. This warning is critical and can save lives. New Hanover County Fire Rescue also had an identified need to increase awareness training, as well as targeted fire prevention and safety training. Two types of events were created to accomplish this. The first was geared for first responders to increase their sensitivity to interacting with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and the second provided fire and life safety education targeted to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.