Domestic Smoke Alarms and Sprinklers

Home Smoke Alarms: A Technology Roadmap

Ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms in rural Alaskan homes.

OBJECTIVE To compare rates of nuisance alarms and disconnection between ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms. DESIGN A prospective cohort study. SETTING Four Inupiat Eskimo villages in the Northwest Arctic Borough region of Alaska, 48 km (30 mi) above the Arctic Circle. SUBJECTS Households in 4 communities with similar populations, number of homes, mean income, size of household, and...

Smoke alarms, fire deaths, and randomised controlled trials.

When smoke alarms are a nuisance: a call to action.

T here is a clear analogy between smoke detectors and child car seats. Both technologies have been enthusiastically embraced, and their widespread distribution has saved many thousands of lives. However, the issue of car seat misuse has led to a reevaluation of engineering and educational approaches for child occupant protection. It is time for a similar comprehensive reevaluation of smoke dete...

Optimizing Emergency Awakening to Audible Smoke Alarms: An Update

OBJECTIVE This review examines research on arousal from sleep in an emergency. It considers whether the current smoke alarm signal is optimal for waking those most at risk of dying in a fire and, if not, how it may be improved. BACKGROUND The fire fatality rate during the sleeping period is approximately three times greater than at other times. METHOD Four key areas are reviewed: (a) the ch...