Navigating Severe Weather with Hearing Loss

0:00

If there was ever a time of year where you think your hearing is critically important when it comes to seasons, I'll tell you the spring and summer season are probably the most important time as we're heading into that season because of severe weather. Now Doug Leonard is with us from Audiological Services of Iowa. Doug, this is absolutely critical that people get information in a timely manner at this time of year.

0:22

Yeah, I mean unfortunately we do live in an area of the country where We can have some severe weather occurring and sometimes pop up out of nowhere, as you guys know, certainly at the radio station. That's certainly one of the things that people tune in to with those severe weather alerts to find out where things are and where they're coming. And, you know, you think about that with someone with significant hearing loss. You know, a lot of times you encounter patients who have such severe hearing loss that, you know, maybe they took their hearing aids out. They're getting ready to go to bed or they're asleep at night. And there was some kind of an alert or an alarm going off, whether it's severe weather, whether it's a smoke alarm, carbon monoxide, or some kind of an emergency. And they would not be aware of that because of the degree of loss they have. And that's something that people need to plan for, again, as you said, especially in the springtime.

1:07

Yeah, and there are things that you can use to help them, like alerts that if they are sleeping, something maybe they can slip under their pillow because those late-night storms can come up awfully fast.

1:17

They do. And, you know, the vast majority of patients do not sleep with their hearing aids in. You know, it's just not practical for them because either, you know, they're not comfortable or they're rechargeable. So they make alerting things. You know, there are alerts for weather radios. There are alerts for smoke alarms or carbon monoxide alarms that can either be, as you referenced, put under a pillow and they'll vibrate if something goes off or they may be keyed to a light that will flash to notify them to wake them up in the case of an emergency.

1:45

Doorbells are about the same way. There's lights that can flash. If somebody comes knocking on the door that you need to leave your home, you can do that. You understand there's people at the door.

1:54

Yeah, that's what folks need to rely on when they have significant losses or more visual alerting things. The other thing that's really important is to have a plan and maybe have... a neighbor or a friend or a loved one who is aware of your problem. You know, maybe you live in an apartment and you make a plan with your next door neighbor that if there's an alert or an alarm, hey, come check on me so I know what's going on. Or if mom or dad had that situation, you know, you run down the block. send a neighbor over there to their house to make sure that they're prepared for that upcoming issue.

2:25

It is an important thing at this time of year because those storms can come up awfully, awfully fast. Now, to understand more about the products they might be able to use to help out, to supplement that situation, all they got to do is come in and talk to you. You've got options.

2:38

Yeah, we'd love to visit with them, John. And one other thing quick is if folks have hearing aids that are Bluetooth compatible and they get an alert on their phone and it's an auditory or a sound alert, that can go to their hearing aids directly too. So even if the phone was in a different room. So yeah, they can give us a call here in Carroll. If they want to visit about that, it's 792-5933.

2:56

critically important this time of year because those storms can come up awfully quickly and strike again when you're not prepared for them. So call ASI, get ready for that. If you've got a hearing loss, you need to take special precaution in the spring and the summer about severe weather.