On September 4th, ALRM went live at both Kennebunk service plazas on the Maine Turnpike, the first time an accessible emergency alert technology like this has been hosted by a transportation agency anywhere in the country. It’s a genuine step toward accessibility and equality for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, and it was built by one of our own.
Gavin Phelan smiles after placing the ALRM QR code at the Kennebunk Service Plaza, joined by Andre Briere, Executive Director of the Maine Turnpike Authority, and Steve Connolly, Executive Director of MECDHH/GBSD. The QR code allows Deaf and Hard of Hearing travelers to access ALRM emergency notifications.
Gavin Phelan, who is hard-of-hearing and grew up in Cape Elizabeth, started building ALRM at 14, before he even knew how to code. Two years later, it’s live at the Kennebunk rest stops, listening for gunshots, fire alarms, CO alarms, and sirens. When it detects one, your phone buzzes and lights up, no Wi-Fi required.
Gavin Phelan, creator of ALRM, speaks with the media at the Kennebunk Service Plaza as his father looks on in support. A Deaf Interpreter and ASL interpreter provide communication access during the interview.
Gavin built ALRM after the Lewiston mass shooting, which happened during a Deaf and hard-of-hearing cornhole tournament. Several participants had no way of hearing the warning that an active shooter was in the building. He also thought of a Deaf couple in South Dakota who died along with their dog from carbon monoxide poisoning because they couldn’t access the audible warning from their detector. None of this was news to us. We’ve always known that sound-only alerts leave us out, and that when they do, people we love die.
ALRM is free to download and requires no Wi-Fi to work. It’s now live 20 minutes from where Gavin grew up, installed not by a government agency or a company with a budget, but by a teenager from our own community.
Group poses for a picture after the presentation, proudly behind a Kennebunk fire truck. Left to right: Andre Briere, Executive Director, Maine Turnpike Authority; Matt Webster, Director, Maine Association of the Deaf (MeAD); Gavin Phelan, creator of ALRM; Margaret Myatt, Vice President, Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), Downeast Chapter; and Rebecca Grover, Director of Communications & Government Relations, Maine Turnpike Authority.
We’re proud of what Gavin built, and we’re not pretending two service plazas are the finish line. We want ALRM everywhere sound-only alerts still leave us out. But this milestone is worth sitting with.
Download ALRM below:
