Optimizing Smoke Alarm Signals for Those at Highest Risk for Residential Fire-Related Death: Testing the Effectiveness of Children’s Smoke Alarms for Sleeping Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary A. Smith ◽  
Sandhya Kistamgari ◽  
Mark Splaingard
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Smoke Alarm ◽  
Smoke Alarms ◽  
Alarm Signals ◽  
Residential Fire

scholarly journals Optimizing smoke alarm signals: Testing the effectiveness of children’s smoke alarms for sleeping adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary A. Smith ◽  
Sandhya Kistamgari ◽  
Mark Splaingard
Keyword(s):  
Median Time ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
The Other ◽  
Wilcoxon Test ◽  
Smoke Alarm ◽  
Smoke Alarms ◽  
Alarm Signals ◽  
Frequency Tone ◽  
Residential Fire

Abstract Background Being asleep is an important risk factor for death during a residential fire; however, the high-frequency tone smoke alarms in many homes will not adequately awaken children who are old enough to self-rescue. In a series of previous studies, we identified smoke alarm signals that effectively awaken children 5–12 years old and prompt their escape. Because it is impractical to have separate alarms for children and adults in a household, the purpose of this study is to test whether alarms that are effective in awakening children and prompting their escape are also effective among adults. Methods Using a randomized, non-blinded, repeated measures design, 150 adults 20–49 years old were exposed during stage 4 sleep to four different smoke alarms. Statistical tests included the Kaplan-Meier estimator, generalized Wilcoxon test, and hazard ratios with Wald’s 95% confidence intervals. Results The median age of study subjects was 30.0 years and 67.3% were female. Almost all (n = 149) subjects awakened and performed the escape procedure to all four alarms; one individual did not awaken or escape to the high-frequency tone alarm. The median time-to-awaken was 2.0 s for the high-frequency tone alarm and 1.0 s for the other three alarms. The median time-to-escape for the high-frequency tone alarm was 12.0 s, compared with 10.0 s for the low-frequency tone alarm and 9.0 s each for the female and male voice alarms. All pairwise comparisons between the high-frequency tone alarm and each of the other three alarms were statistically significant for the probability functions for time-to-awaken and time-to-escape. There were no significant differences in these outcome measures between the latter three alarms, except for female voice versus low-frequency tone alarms for time-to-escape. Conclusions All alarms performed well, demonstrating that smoke alarms developed for the unique developmental requirements of sleeping children are also effective among sleeping adults. Compared with a high-frequency tone alarm, use of these alarms may reduce residential fire-related injuries and deaths among children, while also successfully alerting adult members of the household.

A Framework for Analyzing Residential Fire Outcomes in Homes with Operative Smoke Alarms

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1660-1664
Author(s):  
Natalie V. Motta-Mena ◽  
Christy Cloninger ◽  
Genevieve M. Nauhaus
Keyword(s):  
Situational Factors ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Cognitive State ◽  
Smoke Alarm ◽  
Smoke Alarms ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Residential Fire ◽  
Physical Abilities ◽  
Fire Fatality ◽  
Alarm Sounds

Operative smoke alarms have been shown to be effective in reducing home-fire fatalities, but there remain incidents in which injuries and death occur despite the presence of a working smoke alarm. The present work presents a scientifically-guided framework for evaluating the outcomes of such incidents from the perspective of human factors and, specifically, the warnings communication process. It considers the roles of environmental, individual, and situational factors in occupants’ detection, noticing, and processing of smoke alarms, as well as the behaviors produced in response. Such factors include the acoustic environment in which the alarm sounds, the occupants’ cognitive state and focus of attention, the occupants’ developmental and physical abilities, and the situational circumstances in which a response is chosen and executed. The synthesis of these findings provides one methodology for understanding real-world outcomes of fires, as well as informing development and evaluation of countermeasures for improving residential fire fatality rates.

scholarly journals Performance of home smoke alarms analysis of the response of several available technologies in residential fire settings

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W Bukowski ◽  
Richard D Peacock ◽  
Jason D Averill ◽  
Thomas G Cleary ◽  
Nelson P Bryner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Smoke Alarms ◽  
Residential Fire

scholarly journals Intelligent Smoke Alarm System with Wireless Sensor Network Using ZigBee

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Wu ◽  
Jiashuo Cao ◽  
Chuang Zhou ◽  
Ji Huang ◽  
Zhuo Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Visualization ◽  
Water Mist ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
Alarm System ◽  
Smoke Alarm ◽  
Smoke Alarms ◽  
Time Dynamic ◽  
Fire Smoke ◽  
Communication Module

The conflagration of fire is still a serious problem caused by humans, and houses are at a high risk of fire. Recently, people have used smoke alarms which only have one sensor to detect fire. Smoke is emitted in several forms in daily life. A single sensor is not a reliable way to detect fire. With the rapid advancement in Internet technology, people can monitor their houses remotely to determine the current condition of the house. This paper introduces an intelligent smoke alarm system that uses ZigBee transmission technology to build a wireless network, uses random forest to identify smoke, and uses E-charts for data visualization. By combining the real-time dynamic changes of various environmental factors, compared to the traditional smoke alarm, the accuracy and controllability of the fire warning are increased, and the visualization of the data enables users to monitor the room environment more intuitively. The proposed system consists of a smoke detection module, a wireless communication module, and intelligent identification and data visualization module. At present, the collected environmental data can be classified into four statuses, that is, normal air, water mist, kitchen cooking, and fire smoke. Reducing the frequency of miscalculations also means improving the safety of the person and property of the user.

How long do smoke alarms function? A cross-sectional follow-up survey of a smoke alarm installation programme

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary A McCoy ◽  
Carey Roper ◽  
Emily Campa ◽  
Shelli Stephens-Stidham ◽  
Debra K Carlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Smoke Alarm ◽  
Smoke Alarms ◽  
Cross Sectional
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