Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Well, hearing, of course, is important for everybody, but, you know, for first responders, it can mean the difference between life and death. And there are a lot of weeks and this entire month, this month, that make us think of our first responders. May is Wildlife Preparedness Month. We've also got National Police Week, National EMS Week this month as well. And here to talk about how important hearing is for those who are first responders and others as well, is Dr. Ryan Potter, who is vice president of audiology for Hearing Life. Ryan, thanks so much for being here. Really do appreciate your time.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Thanks for having me, Matt. Appreciate it.
[00:00:39] Speaker A: Well, so talk about that. I mean, you know, what does the data show about hearing loss among those, first of all, who are first responders?
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I've seen so many responders over the years myself, and, you know, it's something we probably don't think about often, but there's a really high prevalence of hearing loss for first responders. So as many as 80% of long term law enforcement, 40% of firefighters, and 45% of EMS providers are suffering from hearing loss as a result of that noise exposure that they experience at work each day.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: Yeah. And really, it is crucial for them, as I kind of mentioned in the beginning here, you know, obviously being able to hear things, you know, in those emergency situations and be able to distinguish between, you know, what might be near and far, what might be, you know, like it. It's just crucial no matter what line of work you're in. Right. As a first responder.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. And for anybody who has hearing loss, you know, one of the things that starts happening is you're losing detail out of conversation. You're not getting clarity. And so when that occurs, you start working really hard to piece together the conversation and kind of fill in the blanks in your mind. And that takes time to do that. And, you know, time is not something that a first responder has. They're trying to work very quickly. And so, you know, that's not putting somebody in a, in a good position to be able to do the really important work they need to do when they're, you know, sitting there just trying to figure out what someone said.
[00:02:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Now, you talked about sort of the, the first signs of, you know, hearing loss there, you know, loss of clarity and all of that.
What are some things that, first of all, first responders can do to protect their hearings? Make sure that they, they, you know, make that last as, as long as humanly possible.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: For sure. So obviously, when a first responder is at work hearing Protection is generally not an option.
But I would say recreationally, outside of work, if someone has hobbies that they're doing, you know, maybe they're a woodworker or they're, you know, using power equipment, they want to use hearing protection in those scenarios, you know, for our law enforcement, our police officers, if they're doing target practice, you know, making sure you're utilizing hearing protection when you're in those environments that are outside of work, really important. And then I think just being really proactive, you know, getting a baseline hearing evaluation, knowing where you're at, being aware of that is. Is really critical.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Yeah. And of course, as I was mentioning to you just before we went on here, you know, most of our audience is, you know, retirees and pre retirees and, you know, what are just maybe some generalized tips that you could give for folks who are. I know that my. My mom falls into this category as someone who, you know, every once in a while she'll say, now why are you talking about that? And it's something that sounds a little bit like what we were saying, but not really, you know, and so. So I. I know kind of what that is like from hearing that happen to my mom. But what are some general rules that folks can maybe follow, some guidelines to protect their hearing if they're not you first responder.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So I think anytime you're in an environment where you have some prolonged noise exposure, you know, the correlation is that the louder the noise, the less time you can be in that environment before the noise can start to cause damage. And so if you're questioning it, I think using hearing protection, it's also really important, again, to be proactive. So, you know, anybody that is 60 or over, they should be getting a baseline hearing evaluation done. And at Hearing Life, you know, we support that with offering a complimentary hearing assessment for everyone.
And if hearing loss is identified in that, then you should move on to having annual hearing evaluations done. If you don't find that you have hearing loss with that baseline at age 60, then, you know, every few years, you're just kind of getting a recheck and making sure that everything is staying good.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Yeah, well, very good. And one thing too that I always love to hear is, you know, when folks dedicate their life to something, you know, why or what sort of inspired them to do that. What inspired you to sort of dedicate your life to. To those with hearing loss.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: Yeah. So, you know, we're talking about first responders today, and I think this is probably something that I Share with a lot of people that became first responders. I, I just really wanted to do something to help people and help make a difference in their lives. And, you know, a career in audiology has definitely allowed me to do that.
Had a unique experience. You know, it was probably, I would say, maybe my first, second year of, of practicing. Right out of school, I met a friend and she had hear loss, and she had it for most of her life. She sought out treatment when she was in her 20s and she didn't have a great experience. It wasn't successful. And so by the time I met her, she had really struggled through Life for like 15 years of just trying to deal with the hearing loss, trying to figure out how to make things work while having the hearing loss. And fortunately, I was able to fit her with hearing aids and it was life changing for her. I got to see that firsthand and, you know, for me, that really shaped the rest of my career. That, you know, I was on a mission to make sure that didn't happen to anybody else and that if somebody needed help, they got the help they needed and really got the proper treatment. And so that's been my personal goal. And that's our mission at hearing life as well.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Well, that's wonderful. And I can imagine just like seeing that look on your friend's face there was, was amazing. And yeah, that, that, that's great. Well, Ryan, just about time for us to wrap up here, but if our listeners and viewers are interested in going somewhere to learn more about their hearing health or about hearing life in general, where can they go for that information?
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah, so if you find yourself saying, I think maybe that's me, or, hey, I'm 16, I haven't gotten that baseline yet. You can go to hearinglife.com and learn more information. You can find a hearing life location near you, and it's super easy. You can even go ahead and schedule that complimentary hearing evaluation for yourself. We've also got some information on there. For our first responders, we're offering an ongoing promotion, an additional 10% discount that's stackable on top of our normal promotions for first responders for hearing devices. We really want to support them in just being able to continue to do the amazing and important work that they're doing each day.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. And our thanks to those who put their lives on the line for us each and every day. Well, Dr. Ryan Potter is the vice president of audiology for hearing Life. Ryan, thanks so much for being here. Really appreciate it.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Thanks for having me, Matt.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: Thanks.
