BALTIMORE — A bedside fire alarm is helping those who are deaf or have trouble hearing get a better night's sleep knowing this special alarm is designed to save their life.
It's a screeching noise letting you know it's time to get out. There's a fire, but what if you can't hear it?
"I would hate to think something happened and I had the ability to protect myself and or my grandkids," said Celia Ifill, who lives in Northwest Baltimore.
"It take four minutes to die in a fire," said Shana Haughton, who is the Baltimore City Fire Marshal's Office Fire Lieutenant.
It’s a scary thought. Lifetone HL can be the difference between life and death.
"It's as small as a mouse. You can put it underneath your bed, underneath your pillow and when your fire smoke alarm goes off it will go off also and shake the bed or vibrate the bed,” said Haughton.
Haughton said the device and installation are free and quick.
It sits on your bedside like an alarm clock and works in conjunction with the home fire alarm.
"So when I’m installing it goes through a testing program. First, it measures your level of hearing. So you'll hear a small tone then a little louder and a little louder. And then you'll hear the voice saying fire, fire and he says it three different times at three different levels,” said Haughton.
Then it sends the vibration to wake those who may be deaf or hard of hearing.
"I think that one we don't get to that demographic enough. There are a lot of people who are having a hard time and they live alone. So this is a way of giving them that additional support and help,” said Haughton.
All too true for someone like Ifill.
"I'm older and my ability to run downstairs is not as good as it was before," said Ifill. "And time goes on you lose some of that necessity to be on the lookout for sounds and stuff like that."
She looks at the device as an extra safe guard.
"All around protection, it's just basics to me and if it's something available that you can get that it's a no brainer,” said Ifill.
A grant provided the fire department with five thousand devices. When fire department officials install the Lifetone they also do a home safety check on the current smoke alarm.
To get an alarm, call 311 or the fire marshal's office at 410-396-5752.
