Smoke alarms failing to wake children, research indicates

Research conducted by Dundee University and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue has warned that its findings suggest smoke alarms may not effectively wake sleeping children.

The study involved performing fire alarm drills on 34 children and found 27 repeatedly slept through smoke detector alarms.

In response to the results, the researchers have developed an alarm with a lower pitch and a woman's voice, which issues the warning: ‘Wake up, the house is on fire.’ They are looking to test the effectiveness of the new alarm on 500 families, with children aged between two and 16.

Prof Niamh Nic Daeid, a forensic scientist at Dundee, noted: "Boys are especially hard to wake, and we think they will respond to a human voice."

Currently, standard smoke alarms have a frequency of around 3,000Hz, but the new prototype has a lower pitch of 520Hz, to which young children are more likely to respond.

Rodney Mountain, from the University's School of Medicine, explained: “Children’s hearing ability, brain function, sleep patterns and stage of brain development is very different to adults.

“Our team of ENT surgeons and neurologists do not believe that hearing ability plays a major part, but think that the answers probably relate to how children’s brains perceive, interpret and respond to sound while they are asleep. The answers to these questions will be found through future research together with consultant neurologist, Dr Ian Morrison and colleagues at NHS Tayside.

“Beyond that, an interesting answer probably lies at the level of our human evolutionary response to potential danger. We are programmed to respond to human voices warning of danger, such as a mother’s voice shouting to warn a child. Children are not born pre-programmed for our modern world of danger warning sounds from digital beeps and sirens – they have to learn, recognise and interpret these sounds.”

The Chief Fire Officers Association commented: "As this research does indicate that some children may not wake to the sound of a smoke alarm, parents, guardians and responsible adults should ensure that they prepare an escape plan which must account for this.

"Children must woken and evacuated as part of this plan."