New smoke alarms are being developed that are designed specifically to wake children in the event of a fire.

As parents we train our children and babies to sleep through noise. With my own children I taught them to sleep through their sibling crying and when they fell asleep on the playmat I would take the opportunity, knowing that they wouldn’t wake to the noise, to vacume around them. It is therefore not surprising that children are not waking to the noise of a traditional house smoke alarm.

After several heartbreaking child deaths from house fires while the children slept, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue realised that these children weren’t being woken or reacting to the traditional, two tone, fire alarm. This lead them, in partnership with Dundee University, to develop the new child friendly smoke alarm.

These new alarms use a different frequency that is easier for children to pick up along with a voice to wake them. Research shows that people react quicker to voice activated systems than a standard two tone fire alarm sound.

Hoot Fire and Security are keen to offer these as part of our installations and maintenance once these are available for sale.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue are looking for 500 families to test these alarms. Click here to register your interest.

Read more: Smoke Alarms Fail to Wake Sleeping Children on this BBC link.

Hoot Fire and Security install, monitor and maintain Fire Alarms find out how we can protect your home and family.