OSFA Partner Grants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Solutions 2011 Smoke Alarm Project

Stillwater, Oklahoma – September 2, 2011 - Will you wake up if your smoke alarm goes off
in the middle of the night after you have removed your hearing aids?

Solutions 2011 Smoke Alarm Project has an answer. The Oklahoma Assistive Technology
Foundation (OkAT) has received a $277,550 grant from the U. S. Department of Homeland
Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). OkAT is a partner with
Oklahoma ABLE Tech and Fire Protection Publications at OSU (OSU-FPP) to implement Solutions
2011. Oklahoma ABLE Tech is a federally funded program to assist persons with
disabilities to increase access to, provision of, and funding for assistive technology. Fire
Protection Publications is the largest provider of firefighter training materials and curricula
in North America.

Nancy Trench, Assistant Director, Fire Protection Publications, said “Oklahoma has more
home fire deaths than most other states. Working smoke alarms are the best way to prevent
home fire deaths. People who are deaf or who are hard of hearing are especially at risk.
They cannot hear standard home smoke alarms.”

Solutions 2011 will accept and approve applications from people who are deaf or hard of
hearing; install free smoke alarms that meet the unique needs of these individuals; plan a
home fire drill specific to each home, and assist with a home safety survey to prevent fires,
burns, falls, and other common home injuries.

People of all ages with a documented hearing impairment (deaf or hard of hearing), who live in Canadian, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, Lincoln, Cleveland, Pottawatomie, Payne, Creek, Okmulgee, Wagoner, Tulsa, Pawnee, Osage, Rogers, and Washington are eligible to apply to have free smoke alarms and alert equipment installed in their home.

The Solutions 2011 Smoke Alarm Project is updating important home fire safety materials
that directly address the unique needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing including a
DVD in American Sign Language, “Fire Safety for YOU at Home”. This free DVD will
assist the person who is deaf or hard of hearing to understand the types of equipment that
are installed in their home, and provide important home fire and life safety messages.
Solutions 2011 will install smoke detection and alert equipment that uses the latest
technology for alerting people to a fire who are deaf or hard of hearing. The alert equipment
uses a bed shaker, a very loud low frequency bedside alert signal, and in some homes a
strobe light to waken and alert people to a fire in their home. The Lifetone HL150 is an alert
device, invented in Oklahoma that will be installed as part of this program.

Linda Jaco, the Assistant Director for the Seretean Wellness Center’s Sponsored Programs,
noted, "It is important to provide life-saving assistive technologies, such as these smoke alarms, and alert devices to people who are deaf or hard of hearing so that they are in control of their own safety."

Robert Doke, Oklahoma State Fire Marshal, said, “Thanks to Solutions 2011 the future should
be safer for people in Oklahoma.”

For more Solutions 2011 Smoke Alarm Project information and an application for free smoke
alarms and alert equipment, please contact Oklahoma ABLE Tech at (405) 744-9748 or 1-888-
885-5588.

Contact:

Milissa Gofourth, Grant Manager
Oklahoma ABLE Tech,
Milissa.gofourth@okstate.edu
(405) 744-9863 or 1-888-885-5588