Kids and smoke alarms. Children may not hear smoke alarms: Low Frequency Smoke Alarm for the Hearing Impaired with high frequency Loss

KIDS AND SMOKE ALARMS

UPDATE, OCT 2007: SEE VIDEO showing danger posed to children. The video is a out of date and does not include the most recent studies which indicate the primary failure of typical smoke alarm is the high frequency. A tone of 520 Hertz has been shown most effective for waking at-risk populations.

More and more studies are showing that children (ages 5 to 15) with normal hearing do not awaken to the sound of smoke alarms because they sleep so deeply during their developmental stages. As many as 80% of children may not awaken to smoke alarms according to several studies (see article below).

The extremely high frequency of typical smoke alarms is thought to be part of what makes them too easy for children to "ignore" while they sleep.

See article published by the NFPA regarding this issue.

"Lower frequency tones also may be more effective at waking children and those with high frequency hearing loss (most commonly brought on by aging)." -- National Fire Saftey Corporation

The Loudenlow™ Low Frequency Alarm uses a 6-inch speaker and booms out a low frequency tone at over 87dB and is very simple to operate. Low frequency has been shown to be more effective in waking children and adults. The Loudenlow™ uses the IONIZATION METHOD to detect smoke. This method is better for detecting fast, flaming fires that spread quickly.

WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU TEST YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN THAT THEY CAN HEAR THEIR SMOKE ALARMS

Below is an article from KMBC TV's web site discussing this phenomenon.

POSTED: 12:48 pm CST February 22, 2005 UPDATED: 3:58 pm CST February 24, 2005 LEAWOOD, Kan. -- Don't be so sure that your smoke alarm will wake your sleeping children if there is a fire. KMBC's Maria Antonia conducted two drills with the Tulp family recently. "They know if they hear the alarm in the middle of the night, and they wake up, and there's smoke, to get out of the house," mom Lisa Tulp said. After a movie and munchies, Sam, 12; Sophie, 8; Will, 4; and Lilah, 2, go to bed. When the lights went out, KMBC's cameras started rolling -- all of it monitored by their parents. A smoke alarm was set off and safe fog was used in place of smoke. Antonia reported that firefighters estimate there are seconds, maybe a minute or so to get out. But more than four minutes into the first drill, the children were still sleeping. "Nobody's getting up," Lisa Tulp said. After five minutes, she went into the children's rooms to wake everyone up. "I'm really surprised that none of you guys woke up at all," Lisa Tulp said. The Consumer Product Safety Commission just released a study that, among things, current smoke alarms do not reliably wake up children under the age of 16. For the second drill, KMBC tried a new, vocal smoke detector. It is designed so kids hear both a parent's recorded voice and beeping. A few nights later, the drill was repeated, again, with their parents watching. Soon Sophie stirred, but did not get up. After 1 minute 52 seconds into the drill, Will was the first to get up. Sam was the next to get out of bed at 2 minutes 52 seconds. With all the commotion, Sophie woke up at 3 minutes 15 seconds. Tulp carried out her youngest, Lilah, because she never woke up. According to the new CPSC study, more research is needed to see if alternative cues can reliably wake children, and that includes the human voice. Antonia shared the results of the fire drills with local firefighters. "It's a good thing to know if your kids will or will not wake up," said Jerry Brenner, of the Overland Park Fire Department. "Plan to get them yourself, and plan to help them escape." Firefighters remind homeowners that smoke detectors are tools that are supposed to save your life, but you also need to have a plan that works for your family.