“A
mother’s recorded voice will wake a child and get him or her out
the room much faster than a standard smoke alarm, a randomized trial
has found.”
– Journal
of Pediatrics (2018)
Researchers from the
Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Sleep Disorders Center
at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that a sleeping child was
about 3 times more likely to be awakened by one of the three voice
alarms than by the tone alarm. The alarms using the mother's voice
awakened 86-91% of children and prompted 84-86% to "escape"
from the bedroom, compared with 53% awakened and 51% escaped for the
tone alarm.
The study also examined
the effect of the different alarms on the amount of time it took the
children to get out of ("escape" from) the bedroom.
In a real fire, seconds
can make a difference. If a child wakes up but takes too long to
leave a burning building, serious injuries or death could occur.
The median time to escape
for the high-pitch tone alarm was 282 seconds -- nearly five minutes
-- while the median times to escape for the voice alarms ranged from
18 to 28 seconds.
(Gary A. Smith, MD,
DrPH, Thitphalak Chounthirath, MS, Mark Splaingard, MD.
“Effectiveness of a Voice Smoke Alarm Using the Child's Name for
Sleeping Children: A Randomized Trial.” Journal of Pediatrics.
October 25, 2018)
These researchers examined
characteristics of four different smoke alarms to determine which
ones worked best to wake children. They tested three alarms that used
the mother's voice in addition to a high-pitch tone smoke alarm
commonly used in homes.
The study’s lead author,
Dr. Gary Smith, who directs the Center for Injury Research and Policy
at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, says …
“The thing that was
most remarkable to us was to see a child sleep five minutes through a
very loud high-pitched tone, but then sit bolt upright in bed when
their mothers voice sounded through the alarm. We didn’t expect the
difference to be so dramatic.”
The study’s co-author,
Dr. Mark Splaingard, director of the hospital’s sleep disorders
center, said the findings could help save lives in the future.
Splaingard expains …
“Children are
remarkably resistant to awakening by sound when asleep. We were able
to find a smoke alarm sound that reduces the amount of time it takes
for many children … to wake up and leave the bedroom.”
Sleep is a uniquely
vulnerable time. Half of all fire deaths occur during the night.
“Knowing which alarms work best can save lives,” says Splaingard.
One night in 1998, Splaingard treated three kids with severe burns.
He was puzzled because their house had a functioning alarm, but it
hadn’t woken the kids up. Within a few years, Splaingard began his
research to solve the problem.
Tests also showed that the
mother did not have to say the child’s name for the voice alarm to
be effective.
Children under the age of
five were not tested because they are considered too young to rescue
themselves in a fire, while teenagers do not have the same difficulty
in waking up to smoke alarms. And, adolescents (older than 12 years)
do not experience the same difficulty as younger children in
awakening to a high-pitch tone smoke alarm.
In 2020, further research
looked into what may be a better in response to a smoke alarm that
uses a male voice, a female voice, a combination of a low-frequency
tone plus a female voice (hybrid alarm), or a high-frequency tone.
The results ...
“Use of the male or
female voice or hybrid alarms in children's sleep areas may reduce
residential fire-related injuries and deaths among children old
enough to perform self-rescue. IMPACT:The male voice, female voice,
and hybrid alarms were each significantly more effective than a
high-frequency tone alarm in awakening children aged 5-12 years from
slow wave sleep and prompting their performance of an escape
procedure.
“There were no
significant differences in the effectiveness of the male voice,
female voice, and hybrid alarms when compared with each other. Use of
these alarms in children's sleep areas may reduce residential
fire-related injuries and deaths among children old enough to perform
self-rescue.”
(G,A, Smith, T. Chounthirath, and M.Splaingard. “Comparison of
the effectiveness of female voice, male voice, and hybrid voice-tone
smoke alarms for sleeping children.” Pediatric Research.
March 12, 2020.)
Further Support
Another reason why mom's
voice works so well? Most smoke alarms blare out high pitched beeps
at a frequency around 3,000 hertz. Studies have shown that alarms
with lower pitches -- around 500 hertz, for instance -- work better
at waking people up.
When smoke alarms were
first developed, their inventors were more worried about detecting
fire. They just assumed that a loud, high pitched noise would wake
people up.
In fact, low frequencies
would be “more effective for a whole range of vulnerable people,”
says Dorothy Bruck, a sleep scientist at Victoria University in
Melbourne, Australia. People who are older, or have trouble hearing,
also respond better to lower-pitched alarms, she notes.
(Dan Garisto. “New
smoke alarm tests a mother’s touch.” Science News For Students.
December 11, 2018.)
The National Fire
Protection Association now recommends using low-frequency alarms,
which can be 12 times more effective. Most households, however, still
rely on devices that blare out high-frequency tones.
So, where do you buy a
smoke alarm that allows the recording of a mother's voice? I have
found alarms online with a prerecorded voice that blares “Fire!
Fire! Fire!” But, I cannot find a device that allows recording a
specific (customized) voice. It seems so simple. Could it be that
regulations are so stiff that such a product is not yet available? Is
there something else to consider. I'm sure time will tell.
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