Sioux Falls Fire Rescue installing free fire alarms for people with hearing disabilities

Sioux Falls Fire Rescue (SFFR) announced that they are starting to install free smoke alarms and alert devices to the Sioux Falls deaf and hard of hearing community, said the city of Sioux Falls in a press release Tuesday. The program is administered in partnership with the American Red Cross and the Helpline Center.

“Smoke alarms are the first line of defense when it comes to a fire in your home,” said the release.

SFFR Inspector Brandon Fey said that the National Fire Protection Agency concluded that almost three out of five home fire deaths were caused by fires in properties with no smoke alarms, or smoke alarms that failed to operate.

The new program is making smoke alarms more accessible than ever, and it is especially geared toward the aging population or just people with hearing disorders and disabilities.

“We have identified the need in our community that we hadn’t been able to reach completely before, and that’s getting devices inside houses for people who are hard of hearing or deaf,” said Fey.

He said that the devices that they are starting to install are called "bed shakers" that look like alarm clocks that are connected to bed-shaking devices that can wake someone in case of a fire and help them get out safely.

In addition to the bed shakers, the SFFR is also installing strobe light devices that set off flashing lights in case of fire along with an audible alarm, said the American Red Cross Disaster Program Manager Robert Reuland.

The first attempt to implement fire alarms for the deaf and hard of hearing community in Sioux Falls was made in 2019 when the SFFR had an event aimed at the community.

“We had a lot of interest in this type of device,” said Fey.

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After the event was over, however, it turned out that it was hard to connect to the people who attended it. In addition to that, the devices themselves cost more than $100 each, and the funds at that time were limited. So, only about 25 devices were installed in 2019.

“We ran into a dead end,” said Fey. “We just didn’t have a good way to contact them, and we didn’t have a good source of income to keep supplying these alarms.”

Pieces came together, said Fey, when the American Red Cross reached out to the SFFR in January this year and said that they were starting to distribute the bed shakers in addition to the regular fire alarms that they were already helping the SFFR with.

Fey then had an idea of creating a team to help the SFFR get in contact with individuals that needed this service.

“That kicked off the idea to get involved with the deaf community in our town,” said Fey.

He reached out to the South Dakota Services for the Deaf (SDSD), and they in turn brought in the Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), Hands and Voices South Dakota, and South Dakota Association of the Deaf.

“Our goal was communicating it out to everybody that is hard of hearing or deaf,” said Fey.

Kami VanSickle from SDSD said they made a committee to set the program up and running, and they came up with the flier to advertise it among the families that they serve and their stakeholders.

VanSickle said they got a positive response when the program was announced because it is something that is needed in the community.

“We’ve had different agencies and organizations try to get something set up like this for our families, but they’ve always hit roadblocks,” said VanSickle. “This is the first time that we’ve actually seen this come through to fruition.”

She said that one of the roadblocks was connecting the resources with the people who needed them. With the Helpline Center tuning in to help connect people with hearing disabilities to the Fire and Rescue that roadblock was finally addressed.

VanSickle added that although the program was originally geared to Sioux Falls, the Red Cross figured out how to get this program to the State of South Dakota as well.

Though the program has just been officially announced, since the beginning of the year 10 homes have already been equipped with the bed shakers. The number of the devices installed in one house depends on the number of the people who need them, said Fey.

Reuland said that distributing the fire alarms is an ongoing program with them that originated due to a high number of fire fatalities, and they were looking to expand it to the underserved population. He added that they are now hoping to reach out to everyone who needs a device.

“The American Red Cross has made incredible strides to serve the communities that need us most, installing more than 2.5 million smoke alarms, saving at least 1,583 lives and making more than 1 million households safer across the country,” said the American Red Cross Regional Communications Manager Sue Thesenga.

This work is made possible thanks to financial donations from regional partners including Sanford Health, Border States Electric, Scheels, Lewis Drug, Medica, Ames Construction, Gate City Bank, Nodak Insurance, and Marathon, she added.

The Sioux Falls Fire Rescue urges all community members to make sure devices are not only installed in their homes, but that each device is working properly.

“Making smoke alarms and bed shakers available that will alert you of a fire if you are deaf or hard of hearing is a priority of SFFR and the American Red Cross, and we look forward to connecting our neighbors with these life-saving resources,” said Fey.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Several agencies united to help people with hearing disabilities