Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 02/05/2

Deaf Awareness Week promotes the positive aspects of deafness, social inclusion and raises awareness of the huge range of local organisations that support deaf people and their family and friends, it is important that safety is not overlooked.

Cornwall County Fire Brigade work in partnership with Cornwall Sensory Loss Team to ensure those who are deaf or hard of hearing have the most suitable alarm for their needs fitted in their home.

“Firefighters visit homes across the County giving free home fire safety checks and fitting working smoke alarms. If an occupier has a hearing impairment and does not have a working alarm we will contact the Cornwall Sensory Loss Team to ensure they get the right type of alarm fitted” said Colin Hatch, Community Safety Officer

Executive Member for Public Protection Ken Yeo said: "It is vitally important that everyone has a working smoke alarm in their home and more specifically, for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to have the most suitable alarm for their particular circumstances. This is particularly important for deaf people living in rented accommodation, your landlord may have installed smoke alarms but may not be aware of your particular circumstances and it is essential that you have a smoke alarm which meets your individual needs.”
“We all have a part to play in creating safer communities and Deaf Awareness Week is an ideal opportunity for us to raise awareness. One in four people in Cornwall have experienced some degree of hearing loss” said Mervyn Thomas, Technical Officer, Sensory Loss Team

Cornwall County Fire Brigade has three Community Fire Safety Advisors who visit all Keystage 1 and 2 children. The Advisors are currently learning Level 1 sign language so that they can teach hearing impaired children fire safety messages. The messages will include ‘Check your smoke alarm’ and ‘Make an Escape Plan’

Community Fire Safety Advisor Rachel Hoare said: “After visiting a couple of schools that had hearing impaired children in the class we thought it was important that we learnt how to communicate our fire safety messages to them”.

Sarah Webber added: “It is definitely not an easy language to learn but with the support of the Fire Brigade and our teacher Susan Curtis we hope to have mastered the basics by our exam in June”.

For further information on how the Fire and Rescue Service can help, please contact the Community Fire Safety Section on 0800 3581 999.

Mervyn Thomas and Alan Chapman who are Technical Officers for deaf people can be contacted at the Hearing Resource Centre at Treliske Hospital on 01872 253746.