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

To test whether alarms that are effective in awakening children and prompting their escape are also effective among older adults 60 to 84 years old. These two age groups are at highest risk of residential fire-related death. Using a randomized, non-blinded, repeated measures design, 31 older adults were exposed during the N2 or N3 sleep stages to four different smoke alarms signals: female voice, low-frequency tone, female voice combined with low-frequency tone (hybrid alarm), and high-frequency tone. The median age of study subjects was 62.0 years and 87.1% were female. All (n = 31) subjects awakened and performed the escape procedure to all four alarms; The median time-to-awaken was 1.0 s for all four alarms and the median time-to-escape was 4.0 s for the female voice alarm and 5.0 s for the other three alarms. Pairwise comparisons among all four alarms did not show any significant differences in the probability functions for time-to-awaken or time-to-escape. Older adult participants rapidly awakened and performed the escape procedure to all the alarm types tested. Study results suggest that smoke alarms that were developed for the unique developmental requirements of sleeping children are also effective among sleeping older adults. The findings of this study contribute to identification of smoke alarm signals that are effective for individuals of all ages.