Fire Safety for the Deaf

From: American Chronicle - Beverly Hills,CA,USA - Jan 27, 2006

By Mike Catherall
January 27, 2006

On Sept 22, 2005 there was a fire at the Richmond Hotel. Two women died, and 14 were sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Two of these people were deaf. They were asleep and could not hear the alarms. People often forget that the deaf require specialized emergency equipment, such as flashing lights, to wake them from sleep. At the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing it is possible to get such equipment. In your house, office or building, it is something you should take into consideration. WIDHH is non-profit, so they understand.

This was a public service announcement we filmed for the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing last Fall and is now available online here (on the top right).

We had the director of WIDHH (who is deaf) sign this public service announcement for us on Friday. The shoot went very well – we were able to film all three ads in just over 3 hours. No major setbacks except for the squeaky floor upstairs. We had to constantly run upstairs to tell people who are deaf and hard of hearing to try to be more quiet.

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