SafeAwake

By Cheryl Heppner

Timothy Shaffer, President and CEO of SafeAwake showed me the new pyramid-shaped SafeAwake and answered a barrage of my questions. SafeAwake was developed through a grant from the National Institutes of Health, through which Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc. found the technology to be effective at waking sleeping people in sleep tests. SafeAwake has a flashing white light, and a high decibel, low-frequency audible signal.

I held the round bed shaker in my hand as I listened to an explanation of how it vibrates intermittently, the most optimal way to alert from sleep. The bed shaker reminded me strongly of the quirky mouse that came with my first iMac computer.

Mr. Shaffer explained that the ShakeAwake was built like a medical device and that the final piece of UL approval is expected in October 2009. He wants to be able to sell the product commercially and believes it will also be a good choice for any heavy sleeper with or without hearing loss. Already the power supply for this low-voltage device has UL approval.

From the SafeAwake website: “Conventional home smoke alarms typically warn people to the danger of fire through sound. That leaves deaf and hard-of-hearing people at high risk – especially while sleeping, because ordinary smoke alarms may not be jarring enough to awaken them.”

The company has its headquarters in Columbia, Maryland.

See more of Cheryl Heppner reports of the 2009 Hearing Loss Association of America Convention at NVRC.