Smoke Alarms – Do They Awaken Children?

There is no question really that fire alarms and smoke alarms are vital to saving lives in a fire. In our homes, we depend on smoke alarms to alert us in the event of a fire, especially one that breaks out at night. Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths happen in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

But we can question are smoke alarms effective at waking children up in a fire? Numerous studies and tests have sadly revealed that many children, especially young children, either do not wake up immediately to the sound of the fire alarm or not at all. And time is of vital import in a fire. According to the NFPA, you can have as little as two minutes in a house fire to escape safely once the alarm sounds.

NBC News conducted an informative smoke alarm test study with a family in Connecticut that has three boys ages, 9, 8, and 4. Days before the test, the boys were even given a safety lesson by a local fire captain. Then when the test crew sounded the smoke alarm in the middle of the night, all of the boys slept through the alarm for close to three minutes. When they did finally wake up, the boys said they didn’t hear the fire alarm at all.

In the news report, a researcher at a children’s hospital who had been studying smoke alarms and sleeping children noted that children are “different biologically” and thus sleep differently than adults do.

Dr. Gary Smith from Ohio’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital said, “Children spend more time in deep sleep than adults do, and that’s why it’s harder for them to awaken in the case of an emergency.”

Other smoke alarm tests with children have shown similar results – most children do not wake up initially at the sound of a smoke alarm. In a test conducted in the UK, over 75 percent of children in the test, ages 2 to 13, slept through the smoke alarms. The children were tested six times and only seven of the children woke up during any of the tests, ScienceDaily.com reported.

So, what can parents do? Experts disclose that each family should have an escape plan where each adult in the household has a designated child to wake up in a real fire. The NFPA recommends that smoke alarms be installed in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of your home. Smoke alarms should be tested every month and replaced in your home approximately every 10 years.

Researchers are looking into making smoke alarms with low frequency alarms that have a greater chance of waking all up. There are also smoke alarms that allow parents to record their own voices in messages that play between the alarm sounds.

Of course, even though children can have a difficult time waking up to the sound of a smoke alarm, smoke alarms are crucial to saving lives and preventing injuries during a fire.

Mac Systems in Tulsa and OKC would be glad to help you choose the right smoke alarm for your home and design and install the right Tulsa or OKC fire alarm and fire suppression systems for your business. We also handle testing and maintenance of fire detection and suppression systems including fire extinguisher inspections.