Traditional smoke alarms are ineffective in waking children. Research shows that 2 out of 3 children will sleep through the beeping of a regular

 

 

Vocal smoke alarm fact sheet

 

 

 

 

PSC the fire safety company based in south Leicestershire has come across a new smoke alarm, we were stunned to find research has found children either ignore smoke alarms or can be frightened by the noise and do not react to the obvious danger. When watching news clips of the research we wanted to find more about this unique product and the research.

 

After months of negotiations PSC are trying to launch this new detector across the UK, to help us we would like some feed back on the idea, below is some facts about the new detector, what are your first thoughts on the facts? Do you think you would purchase this product? What would you pay?

 

We have selected the people who have signed up for the free fire safety information on our web site as you have already shown an interest in fire safety please email paul@pscfiresafety.com with your ideas, we hope to launch the Vocal smoke alarm in the next month or two and we will invite you to the launch when a date is arranged.

 

Please read the facts below and comment we will really appreciate your help.

 

 

 

·         Approximately 70% of home fires happen at night – between the hours of 10pm and 6am. Smoke alarms are a necessity for giving occupants early warning and time to escape the home safely.

·         Traditional smoke alarms are ineffective in waking children. Research shows that 2 out of 3 children will sleep through the beeping of a regular smoke alarm.*1

·         A familiar voice reliably wakes a child. Additional studies show that children wake up to the sound of a family member’s voice more than 96% of the time. *2

·         Traditional smoke alarms can cause children to panic. If children do awake to the sound of a normal smoke alarm, they are typically disoriented or frightened and have an escape time of over 5 minutes. *3

·         A familiar voice keeps children calm and prevents panic. Upon hearing their parent’s voice act as the alarm children react more appropriately and are reminded what to do, with an average escape time of 38 seconds! *3

·         Customizable instructions work for every family and every home. The vocal smoke alarm allows parents or guardians to record personalized escape instructions that can be customized for any household floor plan or language.

·         Fire drill feature facilitates practice. Unique to the vocal smoke alarm is its fire drill feature, which enables parents to practice home fire drills easily with their families. The fire drill feature is fitted with a time-delay function when activated, simulating a real-life emergency experience.

·         Directional alarm speaker “Aims” your voice at their pillow. This exclusive feature allows the high-quality speaker to be aimed directly at the child’s sleeping area to help ensure the wake up command and instructions are heard during an emergency.

·         LOUD 85dbs tone alternates with your voice. The vocal smoke alarm sounds the familiar voice first, which then alternates with a temporal tone siren at a loud 85dbs output to help awaken children from deep sleep.

·         Easy to install. The vocal smoke alarm installs easily on most surfaces and includes mounting hardware and 4 AA batteries.

 

For more information, email paul@pscfiresafety.com or ring your contact Paul Coughlan 01455 557877.

 

*1 Busby K Pivik RT. Auditory arousal thresholds during sleep in hyperkinetic children. Sleep, 1984; 8(4), 332-41

*2 Bruck, D. The effectiveness of different alarms in waking sleeping children. Fire safety journal, 2004.

*3 Splaingard, M. Smith, G., Xiang, H., Hayes, J., McNair, A. The effect on reaction time among children awakened from slow wave sleep. Columbus Children’s Hospital, 2005.