This morning on the Today show I watched a segment about smoke alarms and their efficacy in waking children. They showed a family with young elementary school aged children and set off a smoke alarm after they went to sleep for the night. The results were shocking. The parents were sure that their children would wake up and continue on with the fire escape plan that they had discussed and practiced as a family.
The children slept right through the alarm. They let the alarm go on for 20 minutes. Toward the end of that time the oldest child woke up and stumbled downstairs to see what was going on, but he did not seem to know what was going on or that he should be evacuating or perhaps waking his sibling that shared his bedroom. Two of the children woke up in their beds, pulled the covers over their heads, and promptly went back to sleep.
I can say with a fair degree of certainty that the smoke alarms would not wake up most of my children. They sleep so soundly. I know I would have to go and wake them up should the need to evacuate arise.
According to the USFA, the U.S. Fire Association:
What is imperative at the moment is for our citizens to understand the need not to rely solely on smoke alarms as the entire answer to escaping from fire. These recent news events serve to reinforce the need for home escape planning. Smoke alarms are a tool in the planning process. Parents need to clearly understand their supporting roles in the escape plan. After going over the plan with your family, you should conduct a walkthrough of the plan. When you feel comfortable with your plan, hold a fire drill at night (activate your alarm) while your children are sleeping so that you and they can determine the appropriate response to a smoke alarm.
I think this is something we will be trying at our house soon.
You can also contact your local fire department and they may offer to have the kids tour the fire house and see firemen in full gear. It’s important that children do this so that they aren’t scared of a fireman when they see him in an already scary situation. If they can’t do it one on one, they may tell you when their next fire safety presentation is, although those are usually during fire safety month. While you’re at it, check your smoke detectors and fire extinguishers!
(sorry…it’s bred in the bone, my dad is a volunteer fm)
Comment by Thia — February 27, 2008 @ 11:12 am
Is anyone else having problems with Handiland? It will not load and open for us….Other wise..everything is wonderful my son absolutely loves this place! Thanks
Comment by Katy — February 27, 2008 @ 11:46 am
I have heard either from a NEWS source or our Alarm guy friend, that children would wake to the sound of their parents’ voice than an alarm. I think there is an alarm out there where you can record your voice or I could be making that up.
My kids wake up to the sound of the security alarm. It scares them. I am not sure why, because I have never explained what the purpose of the alarm is. I am sure the sight of me jumping out of my skin whenever it goes off hasn’t help the issue.
Comment by Wendy — February 27, 2008 @ 12:53 pm
Both of my children are hard of hearing, so we have to a hearing dog in traning, At this time we only have one, but after I finish training this one, we will add a second one as our bedrooms are on opposite ends of the house.
I am in the process of getting ADT (security) that will add flashing lights if there is a fire.
If sound of the alarms don’t wake the kids, perhap flashing lighted smoke alarms will. They are not only for the deaf.
Comment by Sharon — February 27, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
I think that night reaction has alot to do with daytime reaction. It’s rare (I swear) in our house, but it HAS happened, that the smoke alarm goes off while cooking. It doesn’t have to happen often for the subconsious mind to pick up that it’s not something to be immediately “alarmed” about.
If the smoke alarm in our house went off in the middle of the night, I _think_ our kids would wake (depending on their sleep stage) and if they did wake they would be worried; but they would not be panicky like they would if it was a alarm sound they never heard before. I guess that’s the desired effect.
Comment by Gina... — February 27, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
Wendy, I heard of those parental-voice talking alarms too, somewhere, so you’re NOT making it up!
Comment by Brigitte — February 28, 2008 @ 6:14 am
I also saw a report on this that was on the news in Mass, and they talked about a special type of fire alarm that actually plays a recording of the parent’s voice. The kids woke up in less than a minute with that one, where they slept right through the traditional one. I will try to find out where they said you could get them….
Comment by Jessica @ A Bushel and a Peck — February 28, 2008 @ 9:38 am
I’ve been writing about emergency prepareness on my blog. We are completely obsessed with it at our house. Having night time fire drills is a great idea.
I have one son who will sleep through everything but my daughter is good at waking up. I guess it will be her job to wake up her siblings.
If you have ever read The Hiding Place by Corrie Tenboom you know about the night time drills they did with her so she could practice answering questions about the Jews she was hiding. It took a long time before she could wake up fast enough to correctly lie to the questioners.
Comment by The Lazy Organizer — February 28, 2008 @ 1:24 pm
Our downstairs alarm went off right outside our teenage daughter’s room. My husband and I both woke up. Our room is at the opposite end of the house upstairs. Our daughter did not. Fortunately it was just a warning that the battery was low but, now we know if there is a fire don’t expect kids to get out on there own.
Comment by Tanya — February 29, 2008 @ 2:57 pm
Keep in mind that if you have an older child stay alone with other siblings, none of them would wake up. Don’t assume that you could wake up everyone in a fire situation.
Comment by Steve — September 9, 2008 @ 3:39 pm