Police/Paramedic Radios/ Hearing Aids

Hearing Aids
#1

Hello,

I’m a Motorcycle Paramedic and I wear a pair of Oticon Spirit Zest BHE’s with non Vented Skeletan Ear Molds.

We are having earmolds taken at work so we can use the Genesis in the ear Digital Radio system with our Sepura digital Radios and they provide hearing protection and 2 way communications while riding the Motorbikes at speed with Sirens etc. They are basically solid ear molds which contain tiny speakers and a boom which extends in front of the mouth so we can recieve and transmit from our Sepura Digital Radios. See link below…

http://www.sonic-comms.com/pdf/genesis1%2B2_D00-100366-1.pdf

My question is…If my Aids were connected via a conventional tube to the Genesis earmold would they cause continuous or sporadic feed back?That way I could wear the system for my 12 hour shift with my aids in and on rather than constantly swapping my aids and genesis system.

I’m really worried as I need my aids to do my job effectively but will equally need the new in ear radio system so I can continue to work on the bikes as they will shortly be our only method of communication with our digital radios.

Many thanks

RWS

#2

The sound tube option is going to be messy when you take your lid on and off. Why don’t you just get the output of the radio wired through an inductive neck loop. That way you can switch between the radio signal and other sounds using the M-T switch on your aids. It also means you can control the level of your radio through the inductive loop relative to the speed you are going/background noise.

Personally I’d be thinking about having one aid on T and one aid on M all the time, so you’d be both aware of the radio and the surrounding environment. The Mic boom can then be fitted to a wrap-around (your head) clip to keep it in place.

Or wear just one aid and have the mic/earpiece duplex in the other ear with the volume high enough to hear.

#3

Cheers for your reply Um Bongo,

At present I wear my hearing aids all shift. I wear a Shoe Multitec Flip Helmet & I’m able to don & doff the lid with ease over the aids as the front of the helmet flips open.

I’ve tried induction neck loops while on the bike but unfortunately there’s a lot of interference from the bike electrics.

The Genesis 2 ear molds are the same size as my BHE molds so I’m hoping they can accommodate a “hole” for the tube…

What concerns me is if they feedback, worse case scenario I could wear one Genesis and one BHE perhaps?

#4

We are having earmolds taken at work so we can use the Genesis in the ear Digital Radio system with our Sepura digital Radios and they provide hearing protection and 2 way communications while riding the Motorbikes at speed with Sirens etc. They are basically solid ear molds which contain tiny speakers and a boom which extends in front of the mouth so we can recieve and transmit from our Sepura Digital Radios. See link below…My question is…If my Aids were connected via a conventional tube to the Genesis earmold would they cause continuous or sporadic feed back?That way I could wear the system for my 12 hour shift with my aids in and on rather than constantly swapping my aids and genesis system. I’m really worried as I need my aids to do my job effectively but will equally need the new in ear radio system so I can continue to work on the bikes as they will shortly be our only method of communication with our digital radios.

#5

If you plumb another amplifier through the same mould, you’ll cause havoc with the duplex and feedback as the aid tries to am your own voice over the radio signal. I’d imagine there’d be a considerable echo too as the processing speeds of the systems will be different. At the very least you’ll struggle with the sound over the radio being drowned out by external noise under some circumstances.

Like you/I said above, probably the best answer is to have one side aided and one with the speaker/boom mic in situ. That way you can control the mix volume of the two.

There is another way - if you use a more modern aid with an auto-T and have helmet mounted speakers you can control the inductive output of the speakers and whether the aid kicks in or not using the volume control of the radio. Moving one of the speakers slightly to the rear of the helmet will give you two different ‘break-in’ levels.
It doesn’t sort the problem with the boom though.

#6

Many thanks for your expertise, I’ll let you know how it pans out.

#7

Have you contacted the manufacturer of the radio equipment to see what accessability items they suggest? That’s the first place I’d start. They may have something in place. You just never know… It’s in everyone’s best interest to provide you with the best options.

Good luck - Keep us posted…

#8

Nice tunes on the web page… Hats off!!
Do your hearing aids support FM, DAI or Blue tooth?
I couldn’t find great info on the Oticon web site. I wish these vendors would put tech specs up as a norm. Pains!!

I’ve sent an email off to sonic-comms - Hopefully they’ll give a quick response…

Best of luck… Keep playing the guitar - sounds great…

#9

Hi Folks,

I was issued with the Genesis-2 combined earpiece and microphone system yesterday fitted with extra holes for BHE sound tubes, see link-http://www.sonic-comms.com/index2.htm

I attached the tubes to my BHE hooks and hey presto! I can hear through my hearing aids and recieve & transmit with the radio despatcher on the sepura digital radio simultaniously! There is no feedback and I’m really impressed with the set up. Thanks to all who contributed to my post. This could be a world first as when I contacted different audiology/radio and hearing specialists, no one knew if it would work or if it had been tried before. I hope this will helps others in similar situations in the Emergency/Security Services and armed forces that wear hearing aids.

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#10

Hi Mathew,

Thanks for checking my tunes! I only just saw your reply…
I had great succes with the Genesis system, check out my reply on the thread with pics too.

All the best
Rich

#11

Hi,
Am new here and sorry to resurrect an old thread but if RWS is still around, or anyone else who has been fitted with a similar system - I am curious as to how it worked out listening to the radio sound without its sounds being amplified through the hearing aid?
I wear BTE Spirit Zests for mid to high frequency hearing loss, currently open fit but may need to move to a mould, and am starting to use an Airwave radio for work. I am glad I found this post as I recently spoke to my audiologist who said they had been able to make a custom mould for a police motorcyclist but it was only to get the radio sound closer to the ear drum - that the hearing aid could not also be directed through the mould (for a reason they didn’t really explain but which may have been because of the possibility of feedback). So it is good to know that it is possible!
I am also trying to find a way to have the radio sound amplified at the frequencies I need so I don’t have to deafen myself further by having the radio turned up really loud! Will post separately but if anyone does read this and has come across this issue I would really appreciate any suggestions.
Coffee