Students at the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind in Gooding will sleep a little more soundly this year, thanks to a partnership with the American Red Cross of Idaho and East Oregon.

Over the summer, a team of seven Red Cross volunteers and two staff installed 34 bed-shaker alarms in the school’s dormitories. Unlike standard smoke alarms, these devices combine a strobe light with a vibrating pad that slips under a mattress or pillow. When the school’s traditional smoke alarm system is triggered, the device shakes the bed and flashes, ensuring that students with hearing challenges can wake up and respond quickly if there’s a fire.

Red Cross AmeriCorps member Ben DeVries played a lead role in the installation event, which was also his Capstone service project.

“It was fantastic,” Ben said. “This is one way we can better serve underrepresented communities.”

In addition to fire safety, the devices also function as alarm clocks — offering a new level of independence to students who previously relied on others to wake them up for class.

“Our mission is about inclusion and helping everyone,” Ben said. “There are resources for all at the Red Cross.”

Jeannie Gallup, the director of resident life at the School for the Deaf and the Blind, said their students appreciate the security these alarms bring.

“They provide these kids peace of mind,” she said. “And they’re resources they can learn to use now when they’re young that they then can use in their adult lives when they graduate.”