Smoke Alarms

If your smoke alarm went off in the middle of the night, would you be able to hear it?  A recent study by the Fire Protection Research Foundation found that 43% of people in the moderate to severe hearing loss category did not wake up from the sound of a conventional smoke alarm.  This is a significant safety issue because about one half of home fires happen between 11:00 P.M. and 7 A.M. 

A solution to this problem would be a commercially available alarm that vibrates under your pillow or a strobe light alarm that flashes in the same room you are sleeping.  A Japanese company has developed an alarm that uses the pungent smell of horseradish to awaken you.   The smell of the horseradish emitted when the alarm is activated was effective in waking 13 out of 14 people in less than two minutes according to their study. 

Don’t assume that you can hear your smoke alarm.  And don’t assume that it will wake you up.   Not having a smoke alarm that you can hear without your hearing devices is like not having a smoke alarm at all.   Smoke alarms for persons with hearing loss are available at local hardware stores and on the internet.