Maine Student Builds App to Help Deaf Community Stay Safe

A Maine teenager has developed a new smartphone app designed to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing detect emergency situations that they might otherwise miss.

According to WGME 13 the app, called ALRM, listens for important emergency sounds such as gunshots, fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and sirens. When the phone’s microphone detects one of these sounds, the app sends an immediate alert to the user through vibrations and visual notifications.

The idea came from 16 year old Gavin Phelan, a Cape Elizabeth high school student who is hard of hearing himself. Phelan says people with hearing loss often have no reliable way of knowing when an alarm or emergency warning is happening nearby, the news station reported.

“The user may not be able to hear it, but they will feel it,” Phelan said. “If a fire alarm went off, they might not hear it. But if they get a notification on their phone, they can see it and make the right decision.”

WGME explained that Phelan began working on the app more than two years ago. He said the idea took shape after the mass shooting in Lewiston, where four deaf individuals were among those killed.

He says the goal of ALRM is to provide an extra layer of safety and accessibility during emergencies.

The free app has already gained international attention. According to Phelan, ALRM is currently being used in 10 different countries including Canada, France and Brazil. Earlier this year, Phelan traveled to Austria to present the app to accessibility leaders and discuss it with representatives at the United Nations, WGME reported.

Phelan hopes the technology will ultimately help protect others who face the same challenges he does.

“I realized nobody was doing anything about it,” he said. “If no one else was going to do something, I figured I should.”