0n (19 Aug 05) Barbara McNay wrote to All...

 BM> Has anybody heard of personal alarm monitors, and know where to get
 BM> them, if they exist?  I was at the doctor's office the other day, and

 :( There ought to be. Surely (here I am going to be cynical: it's a
marketable situation for a market target long ignored.)

But as a patient the staff is responsible for you, they'd come and
make sure all the patients are evacuated whether they hear or not.

Yet yes life is more dangerous for those of us who are hearing
impaired. We have to rely on our eyes; what we see others doing. In
the home there are such devices you can install that include flashing
lights as well as audible alarms. The same ought to be true in public
places as well. How hard can it be for the alarm makers to adjust
their products to the needs of everyone, not just the hearing?
 ...................

 BM> while I was waiting in the exam room for the doctor to come in, the
 BM> alarms went off, and I couldn't hear them at all.  Somebody came and
 BM> got me, and we all went outside for ten minutes or so.  That incident
 BM> brought home to me just how inadequate fire, smoke, CO2, backing, and
 BM> any other similar alarms are for the deaf or hard of hearing.  There
 BM> are some monitors that you can wire or plug into your circuitry at
 BM> home, but that's useless anywhere else.  What I envision is a
 BM> battery-operated device somewhat analagous to a voice-activated
 BM> recorder:  A device that will react to loud sounds in the frequencies
 BM> used by most of the above listed alarms, by causing a vigorous
 BM> vibration of the unit, and which can be carried in a pocket, worn
 BM> around the neck or wrist, or clipped to the waistband, and which will
 BM> function anywhere, without having to be part of a set or plugged in.


 Cindy

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