Hearing Conservation Quick Brief

Noise-induced hearing loss is the result of Peace Time Training. How much has peace time training hearing loss cost us in the past 20 years?

Figure 3. Cost of Hearing Loss for All Veterans (Primary Disability Only) Total = $4,095,324,768 YEAR MILLIONS $281,747,544 $4,095,324,768

Why is Hearing Loss Prevention a significant Combat Readiness Concern? Do you want soldiers to hear the enemy sneaking up on their position at 100 meters or 6 meters?

Detection in Meters Price et al. ‘89 (H-1) Riflebolt Closing Normal Voice Footsteps in Leaves 210m 100m 5.5m m 32m 0.6m Detection of Sound by Hearing Ability Normal Hearing Poor Hearing Poor + TTS (H-1) Profile (H-2) Profile (H-3) Profile Detection distance decreases rapidly as hearing loss increases * TTS - Temporary Threshold Shift *

Hearing Loss causes a loss in speech intelligibility or clarity. Words become distorted. What is the effect of distorted speech on shooting the wrong target, e.g., fratricide?

Percent of Times Wrong Target Was Shot SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY SCORE (%) O C U R E N C E S (%)

Conclusions The cost of hearing loss for the military now exceeds 4 billion dollars, an expense that is preventable. Hearing loss is a potential (and likely) cause for ‘friendly fire’ incidents and increases risk in all combat environments. Hearing loss causes difficulty in understanding speech and contributes to a poorer quality of life – permanently.