# 5385
A study today that is sure to send a chill down the spine of parents everywhere appears in the early edition of the journal Fire and Materials.
It that finds that the majority of children in an Australian community-based test failed to awaken within 30 seconds of a fire alarm going off.
The study was conducted by the parents of 123 children (average age just under 9, range 5-15 yrs) who were asked to set off the closest fire alarm to their child’s bedroom 1-3 hours after their child (or children) had fallen asleep.
The results appear in:
Community-based research on the effectiveness of the home smoke alarm in waking up children
D. Bruck, I. R. Thomas
The results showed that 78% of the children slept through the alarm.
Those under 10 years of age were less likely to awaken, with 87% failing to wake up. Those between the ages of 11 and 15 were awakened 56% of the time.
Of the 27 children who actually woke up, 61% recognized the fire alarm, and slightly less than half realized they should get out of the house.
Previous studies have suggested that another 5%-10% of children would awaken if the alarm continued for three minutes.
Each year more than 800 children die in house fires in the United States (cite Child Fire Casualties). Additionally, from the CDC’s Fire Deaths and Injuries: Fact Sheet, we learn:
Deaths from fires and burns are the third leading cause of fatal home injury (Runyan 2004). The United State’s mortality rate from fires ranks eighth among the 25 developed countries for which statistics are available (International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics 2009).
Although the number of fatalities and injuries caused by residential fires has declined gradually over the past several decades, many residential fire-related deaths remain preventable and continue to pose a significant public health problem.
Occurrence and Consequences
- On average in the United States in 2009, someone died in a fire every 175 minutes, and someone was injured every 31 minutes (Karter 2010).
- About 85% of all U.S. fire deaths in 2009 occurred in homes (Karter 2010).
- In 2009, fire departments responded to 377,000 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,565 people (not including firefighters) and injured another 13,050, not including firefighters (Karter 2010).
- Most victims of fires die from smoke or toxic gases and not from burns (Hall 2001).
- Smoking is the leading cause of fire-related deaths (Ahrens 2010).
- Cooking is the primary cause of residential fires (Ahrens 2010).
Today’s study highlights the need for conducting fire frequent safety drills in the home, with particular emphasis given to instructing young children on what to do. The number and location of fire alarms in the home may need revision in order to provide the best warning to the occupants of the house.
And most importantly, parents need to double check that their children are actually arousing, and getting out of the house, should an alarm go off.
And a reminder.
Today is the first day of Daylight Savings Time across most of the United States.
Twice a year firefighters ask that families take the time to test, and replace the batteries, in their smoke detectors. This second Sunday in March, and the first Sunday in November, are promoted as a good time to do these tasks.
