Hearing loss....what did you say?

Hearing Loss...what did you say?

by Alan Perry

October 1, 2014

Why do fire trucks have headsets? Is it so you can talk to each other? Communicate with the dispatcher? do they just look cool? A federal Q-siren produces 123 decibels of sound pressure, according to most sources this is enough to cause immediate pain and permanent hearing loss within seconds, add a 140 decibel air horn too that mix and you create a dangerous situation for both your crew, and the general public, without substantial hearing protection like that provided by a properly sized and maintained headset. You have hearing protection on the engine. That is good, what about the medic and the other response vehicles? Does the guy in the convertible trapped in traffic in front of you have any protection? Does the small child playing in their yard? 

Warning devices are only one concern, there are many others; chain saws, power tools, PPV fans and pump panels are all dangerous too. Hearing loss occurs from brief exposure to intense sound pressure as well as routine exposure to levels as low as 90 decibels, which is the ambient sound pressure inside an engine or medic just driving down the road normally. Does your Department have a hearing protection policy? Are earplugs available when not in your apparatus? Do all of your response vehicles have headsets like those on the engine and ladder? 

Like respiratory and cardiac injuries we sustain as a result of complacency with the use of other PPE, hearing loss is no different. We injure ourselves in all these ways due to our culture of peer-pressure, not wanting to look weak, and because of lack of enforcement for existing policies and State and Federal regulations. There are two possible explanations for allowing yourself to be injured in these ways; one is ignorance which you can no longer claim at this point, the other is stupidity which I am not equipped to correct for you. 

Don't wait for the hearing loss to occur, if your employer is still able to justify not providing the necessary protection you should provide your own, sustaining a hearing injury or any other injury is never worth making a point. Tradition can be hard to change as can be an organizational culture to presents roadblocks to protecting employee health. New data and studies of the various health effects associated with emergency services are readily available to help organizations and individuals create safer and healthier workplaces, it will be an ever evolving process. We work in a risky profession already, we should remove those risks that we can reasonably control.

Be Safe,
Alan