Deaf Awareness Week 2021: Which pillow alarm offers the best fire safety solution for my home or guests?
Posted on May 5, 2021
Deaf Awareness Week is an annual event hosted by the UK Council on Deafness (UKCoD) to raise awareness of deafness and hearing loss.
This year’s theme ‘Coming Through it Together’ will focus on the added challenges presented by the pandemic such as remote working and mask wearing. The campaign also aims to highlight the need for improvements within the quality of services available in education and care, raise the profile of the importance of equality and accessibility and inform the Government and wider public about deafness and hearing loss.
As a leading manufacturer of fire safety technology, Geofire is passionate about ensuring that all members of the community are protected in the event of a fire. Since the launch of the pillow alarm in 2015, Geofire has campaigned with ambassadors, to alert hoteliers and accommodation providers of the need to make sleeping provisions to protect the equal rights of deaf and hard of hearing people.
As the pandemic saw more people at home than ever before, Geofire was proud to extend their pillow alarm range at the end of 2020 to include the Deaf Alert, a domestic alarm to offer protection within the home.
The pillow alarm alerts a deaf or hard of hearing sleeper in the event of a fire by ‘listening’ for the building’s fire alarm, and in the event of the alarm sounding, waking the user by flashing high intensity LED lights and vibrating the pad under the user’s pillow.
Geofire currently offers three pillow alarms to meet the requirements of a range of fire safety installations:
Agrippa Pillow Fire Alarm
The Agrippa pillow alarm offers a quick and flexible option for use with commercial fire detection systems such as those in hotels and sleeping accommodation. Using the Agrippa acoustic ‘listen and learn’ technology to learn the unique sound of a buildings fire alarm, the pillow alarm is portable, battery powered and wire-free. As the unit requires no installation, it can be easily moved from room to room to help compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
Salamander Zleepsafe Vibrating Pillow Alarm
Similar to the Agrippa pillow alarm, the Zleepsafe shares the same features but is intended for use within commercial accommodation buildings where an existing radio controlled Salamander system is already installed.
Find out if the Salamander system is right for your building.
Deaf Alert Pillow Alarm
The Deaf Alert offers the only pillow alarm solution intended for use in the home with a domestic smoke alarm. Part of the Agrippa range, the Deaf Alert uses ‘listening’ technology to wake adults and children if the supplied smoke alarm sounds while they are sleeping.
All of the Geofire pillow alarms are powered by mains, with a backup battery supply to ensure fail-safe operation should power be lost. The compact and unimposing units include a LED time display and alarm clock function offering a convenient and reliable solution to give peace of mind to those who are deaf or hard of hearing.