VIDEO: In an emergency, every second matters, but for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, they can’t hear critical warnings like alarms or announcements.
A Mainer created a new app to help, and it’s already being used worldwide.
The app is called ALRM. It can hear emergency sounds, including gunshots, fire and carbon monoxide alarms and sirens.
Once the microphone detects one of those sounds, it sends a real-time alert to your phone, with visuals and vibrations.
The mastermind behind the app, Gavin Phelan, is still in high school.
“The user may not be able to hear it, but they’ll feel it,” Phelan said. “If a fire alarm went off, there’s no way of hearing that. But if they got the notification, they could then see it and then make the right decision.”
Phelan turned 16 in December. He’s been working on the app for more than two years. He first had the idea after the Lewiston mass shooting, when four people who were deaf lost their lives.
WGME-TV CBS 13 Portland
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