Smoke detectors save lives.
The majority of fatal home fires happen at night. The smell of smoke may not wake you up. You should have one smoke detector in every sleeping area, on every level, and outside any sleeping area.
Ceiling smoke detectors should be placed at least four inches from any wall and always on the highest part of the ceiling. Wall-mounted units should be placed four to 12 inches from the ceiling.
If your smoke detector goes off due to cooking or steam from a shower, try moving the detector a short distance.
Replace smoke detectors over 10 years old. Test your smoke alarm monthly. Change your batteries when you change your clock.
Children and Smoke Detectors
Children are more vulnerable to fire than adults. An average of three children a day die in home fires.
Studies indicate that children may not wake to the sound of a smoke detector at night. A recent study conducted by the US Navy finds that children under the age of 13 experience a very deep sleep pattern. Children in this pattern may not wake to the sound of a smoke detector.
During the study, children were exposed to detectors sounding at 120 decibels, 50 percent louder than the normal smoke detector. During these tests, only one in 20 children awoke. Tests also showed that while a child would sleep through the sound of a detector, they would awaken at the voice of their parents.
There are a few things that a family can do to try to protect children.
First, practice your home evacuation plan. Sensitize your children to the sound that your smoke detector makes.
Second, make sure that your children’s doors are closed at night to keep smoke out of their rooms and give them adequate time to react to a fire.
Lastly, parents need to ensure children are awake and reacting to the emergency the way that they practiced in their home plan.