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Sleeping Like a Baby
Nighttime Fire Drills
Critical for Heavy Sleepers and Children
Is someone in your family heavy sleeper? Whether it’s a child or an adult, people who are heavy sleepers
need extra help if there is a fire in your home. That’s because heavy sleepers may not wake up when a
smoke alarm sounds. Or their judgement may be impaired when they do wake up because they are groggy
or confused.
Current research indicates that children may have different sleep patterns than adults, which may prevent
them from hearing and reacting appropriately to alarms. It appears that children, especially those under 15,
have a deep-sleep phase in the first few hours after they fall asleep, which may prevent them from hearing
and reacting appropriately to smoke alarms. This does mean that smoke alarms are useless; it means that,
in addition to having smoke alarms, fire escape planning is an even greater necessity.
Smoke alarms save lives by providing you with an early warning of smoke and fire danger. However, you
won’t know how your children or household members will react to the sound of a smoke alarm until
you’ve tested their response to it. When you only have moments to get out safely, a fire is not a time to
discover these obstacles. If your family practices a home fire drill at least twice per year, including during
the night, you can identify these issues and plan for them in your fire escape plan.
For children and other family members who sleep through alarms, appoint an adult or babysitter to be
responsible for them in advance. Practice escape drills so your children know how the alarm sounds and
what it means. By practicing your escape plan, you can find out any problems with safe escape beforehand
and take action before it is too late.
Children are not the only ones at risk of sleeping through an alarm. The elderly, sleep-deprived students,
shift workers, teenagers, the hearing impaired and anyone taking medication or alcohol or drugs may be
affected. Routine home fire drills will help you detect unanticipated special needs when the smoke alarm
sounds.
It is a frightening thought to realize that your child or household member may sleep through the piercing
sound of a smoke alarm. However, by planning and practicing a fire escape plan at night you can identify
potential problems and solve them.
To find out how to practice fire drills at home please call your local fire department or me.
Now you know, so practice a nighttime fire drill and get prepared. Remember that “Safety is an Attitude”.
Keith R. Martin
Manager of Fire and Emergency Services
County of Newell
Rev. January 13, 2014