safety devices for the hearing impaired

Question

Here is an issue that I have never seen addressed - warning devices in RVs that are for the hearing impaired. Every new RV has smoke detectors, LP gas detectors, and maybe carbon monoxide detectors.  What good are they if you can't hear them?  I have worn hearing aides for years as my hearing degenerated.  My wife could hear the low battery beep or test beep of a device, but I could not. I recently had a cochlear ear implant, and now I can hear those devices when I am wearing my behind-the-ear transmitter unit.  But at night, when I take the external part of the implant off to go to bed, I become totally deaf. I would sleep right through any of the warnings from these safety devices. I use the RV about twice as much as my wife.  When she is with me, things are OK. When I am on my own, the warning devices are completely useless, at least during the night. So the question becomes, what options does a hearing impaired person have to improve the safety of staying in an RV?

donn0128 · Answer

Lights?  I have heard about devices that will flash lights when they go off.  You might do some research i to something like that to add to your bedroom lights

rockhillmanor · Answer

Ditto. It is now very easy to find alarms that are set up with lights for the hearing impaired. They also have ones that set off a pager type unit that vibrates. So at night and/or out of view of the light the person can still be alerted.

A real easy/close to your home, place to find out this information and availability of these products is to go to your Local Senior Center. You don't have to be a senior to utilize what these centers have to offer either!:W

I think the Senior Center is the most overlooked place to get information.

All towns have Senior Centers and they will have all the info on products for the hearing impaired and heck you will most likely get a discount coupon for one there also.

bonefish · Answer

Smoke Detector Remote vibrating recieverYou probably will have to change out some equipment in the camper.

lanerd · Answer

You know this is a very interesting post as probably the majority of mh owners are in the upper age brackets where hearing impaired is common.

The light suggestion would be fine if it is located within the subjects line of sight, but if it was in the bedroom and the person in the front of the rv...useless. Also when sleeping, unless the light is a foot away and very bright...again useless.

Vibrators might work sometimes but for us who are sound sleepers, it would take more that a little vibrator to wake us.

I, like the OP, am very hard of hearing and ware aids whenever I'm awake. Also like the OP, I am for all intents and purposes, deaf without them. For me, it would take a very loud alarm to wake me and I see this as the only solution.

Fortunately for me, I can count on one hand the number of nights per year that my DW is not sleeping beside me and also fortunately for me, she has very good hearing and will wake at the slightest sound.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I think the rv mfg'ers should take this into consideration.

Good post.

Ron

emzee · Answer

I really never thought of this before. My dh and I are always together sleeping but if I were alone and sleeping on my good ear I can't hear a thing. Maybe this is something that the manufacturers could think about.

Forum Discussion

safety devices for the hearing impaired

About RV Tips & Tricks

Related Content

Cummins Hit with 1.7Billion for Emissions Defeat Devices

hearing impaired rv owners

anti siphon device ?

Hearing

Need a device