Belfast City Airport (BCA) is the second major airport in the UK to install Deaf Alerter®, the market-leading radio-based fire alarm warning and messaging system for Deaf and hard of hearing passengers and staff. The aim of the introduction of Deaf Alerter is not only to improve BCA facilities in compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act (enforced October 2004) by providing equal access, but to enhance the travel experience BCA Deaf or hard of hearing passengers receive.
A hearing person in the airport relies on the audible alarms for fire alarm or emergency warnings, however Deaf and hard of hearing people are excluded from these vital messages as it is a facility not accessible to them. The Deaf Alerter system overcomes this barrier by means of a small hand-held device, known as an Alerter. Passengers can borrow an Alerter free of charge from the information desk, at which point an instruction card will be provided; those passengers who own their own Alerter will need to register it with the information desk.
The Deaf Alerter system comprises a VHF radio transmitter and aerial which is permanently connected to the airport's existing fire alarm system. This responds instantly to an alarm and each Alerter in use receives a simultaneous signal, vibrating and flashing to attract the Alerter wearer's attention. This will continue until the Alerter user is safely out of the building.
Although life safety is the key purpose and priority of Deaf Alerter it has another great unique feature called Message Manager™, which provides access to audible public address announcements. Deaf Alerter's Message Manager has an automated link with the flight information system; when a message is broadcast audibly the same message is sent via the Alerter, for example 'Go to Gate' or 'Flight Boarding'.
Traditionally for most Deaf and hard of hearing people the departure lounge experience is not particularly pleasurable. It's extremely difficult to hear announcements even when you have full hearing. With 15% of the UK population experiencing some form of hearing loss, ranging form mild hearing loss to profoundly deaf (9 million people) there is a huge number of potential passengers who will struggle to hear the messages, if at all. So the wait in the departure lounge for Deaf passengers is usually spent sitting next to an information screen, being too worried to move in case they miss their flight.
This need not be the case. Deaf Alerter's Managing Director Steve Haseldine explains: "Deaf Alerter makes for an altogether more pleasurable travelling experience, knowing a safety provision has been made if a fire was to occur and that it is virtually impossible to miss your flight as the Alerter will inform you on its screen. One of the main things people look forward to when flying is shopping in Duty Free; rest assured, Deaf Alerter will help you get around the Duty Free, something we should all be able to do without worrying. Many organisations are unaware of their obligation to provide fire safety to all people, which includes people with disabilities, BCA commitment to their passengers' needs has been inspirational, I'm sure it won't go unnoticed by the Deaf community and may even help attract more passengers as an installation of Deaf Alerter often does."
"Whilst assisting a Deaf passenger the other day, I experienced the barriers Deaf people face and just how confusing it can be," said Liz Donnan, Customer Services Duty Manager at BCA. "Message Manager will be fantastic for our passengers. We are in the process of implanting it so it should be available very soon. We hope it will enable our Deaf and hard of hearing passengers to have freedom and independence throughout the terminal buildings as it has done at Birmingham International Airport, who installed the system last year."
