Preparing for Emergencies with Hearing Aids

From hurricanes to fires, tornadoes to building collapses, the history of Massachusetts is cluttered with disasters that have led to casualties and cost millions of dollars to fix. In just over 100 years, these natural disasters have ruined days, months, and even years for people all over the state. That’s why it pays to have an emergency plan in place, especially for those with pre-existing medical conditions like hearing loss.

You might be the kind who loves to plan for emergencies and has action plans and backpacks ready for every situation you can think of. Or you’re like the rest of us and haven’t given emergency preparedness much thought. No matter how you feel about being ready for an emergency, if you have hearing loss, you should be extra careful and plan at least a few basic steps to take in an emergency.

With hearing loss, we’ve put together this list of essential things to do to protect yourself and your family in an emergency.

Install special smoke alarms for people who can’t hear. 

In the past, smoke alarms for hard-of-hearing people took a lot of time and work, including having an electrician come and set up a separate power source. These smoke alarms are much easier to set up and have a few fun features that make them even better.

When these special alarms detect fire, they will turn on strobe lights all over the house that will blind you. Some of these alarms can even be connected to a clock that will start vibrating in an emergency. Better yet, many of them have a button between the mattress and box spring that, when pressed, vibrates and shakes the bed, waking up the person who can’t hear. On top of these features, smoke alarms for the deaf make the same loud, piercing noise that we’ve come to expect from regular alarms.

Stock up on batteries.

Nothing is worse than when the batteries in your hearing aids die and you don’t have any spares. If this happens during an emergency, it’s even worse!

Get a few extra packs of hearing aid batteries the next time you’re at the pharmacy. Put them in your emergency kit. Experts say that in case of an emergency, you should have at least one month’s worth of extra batteries. Keeping a pack or two of batteries in your car can also be helpful. You never know where you’ll be when something goes wrong or if you’ll forget your aids on a family road trip.

Sign up for free alerts about emergencies.

You can sign up at emergencyemail.org to get emergency alerts by email, text, or even page. You can choose what kinds of emergencies you want to know about and what parts of the country they happen in.

Have a buddy system. 

A buddy system might remind you of elementary school field trips, but it could also save your life.

It might be a good idea to get in touch with a few local friends, neighbors, and family members to set up a “buddy system” where you agree to look out for each other in case of a local emergency and tell each other about potential threats like haboobs or severe monsoons. Let your neighbors, neighborhood watch groups, or local police know about your hearing problems so that they can help you better in an emergency.

Keep your hearing aids in an easy-to-find place.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but the last thing you want to do in a hurry during an emergency is fumbling around looking for your hearing aids.

When you take out your hearing aids, you should always put them back in the same safe place. If you keep them near your bed, you’ll be able to grab them quickly if something goes wrong.

How we can help

If you have hearing loss, the best way to get ready for an emergency is to get your hearing checked and get hearing aids as soon as possible. With the help of hearing aids, your quality of life will improve, and you will also be safer in an emergency!