Vocal Smoke Alarm

Vocal smoke alarms are an important consideration for families with children.  By now everyone should understand the importance of having working smoke detectors in their living and sleeping areas.  What you may not understand is how a child's brain reacts to the sound of smoke detectors going off.  

To adults, the sound of a smoke detector seems like it should wake a hibernating bear.  There's no way anyone could possibly sleep through that high-pitched piercing sound, right?  Wrong!  Study after study continues to show that there is a good chance your children won't wake up in the event of a fire alarm.  And even though you hope and pray that you'll be able to rush in and get your children quickly, its important for children to be able to get up on their own and follow the family's plan for evacuating the house.  So, what's a concerned parent to do?

Enter the Vocal Smoke Alarm.  This smoke alarm is specifically designed to deal with the issue we're discussing.  Parents can pre-record messages that will sound when a smoke alarm goes off.  Studies show that this is an effective way to wake your children and direct them on what to do.  Mom can record a message that says "Wake up.  Go out of your room and out the front door."  This alarm fixes both problems of conventional smoke detectors: Children are wakened and they are given instructions on how to proceed.  The best part is that studies show that vocal smoke alarms are 99% effective in waking children.

The Vocal Smoke Alarm is available from SafeMart.com for only $49.95, well worth the cost of the added security and peace of mind.

Environmental Sensors and Your Security

When most people think of home security their thoughts rest almost exclusively on intrusion prevention and response.  And while this is certainly the primary function of home security systems, there are secondary, and in some cases, equally important functions, such as fire, carbon monoxide, and flood sensors.  Lets take a minute to examine each of these in detail.

1. Fire Detectors: It should be evident why you need smoke/fire detectors.  In fact, its required by law in many, if not most, places.  But if you have a security system, your smoke detectors should be tied into it.  That way, if you have a fire in your home, your detectors will sound locally, notify your system, and if you have monitoring (which you should), your system will alert the central station, which can immediately notify local emergency personnel.

2. Carbon Monoxide Detectors: Carbon monoxide is an incredibly toxic gas, and whats worse, its completely odorless, sightless, and tasteless.  It can be caused by furnaces, gas fireplaces or water heaters, etc.  Each year it kills many unsuspecting people and affects many others.  Even if it doesn't cause death, C.O. poisoning can lead to nausea, dizziness, unconsciousness, or even brain damage.  A C.O. detector will alert you locally and through your system if C.O. levels exceed a safe level.  You can also program it to contact your monitoring company who can immediately notify emergency personnel.

3. Flood sensors are not necessarily as absolutely vital as fire or c.o. detectors.  As a general rule, flooding will occur in the basement and is unlikely to affect anyone in the way fire or c.o. can.  However, its still an important option on your home security system.  A flood sensor will alert you when water triggers the device.  A flood sensor will allow you to immediately respond to the presence of water in your home, possible preventing thousands of dollars worth of damage.  And as any homeowner who has experienced flooding can tell you, water damage can be incredibly extensive and, for that matter, expensive.

These are not the only options available to you, but they are three of the more important.  For the minimal cost involved in any of these sensors, there is no reason not to have this level of protection.  Your home and family's safety far outweigh any financial investment.

Smoke Detectors for Kids

Smoke detectors are one of the simplest, and yet, most important items that you can own. They should be placed in almost every room of your home and greatly increase the likelihood that you and your family will have time to evacuate during a fire. But what happens if you don't hear the smoke detector during sleep? You're thinking: How could someone sleep through a fire alarm? Well, you probably won't. But recent studies have shown that your children very well may.

Because a child's brain is still developing, their deep sleep is often different from that of an adult. Studies demonstrated that many children will continue to sleep through a conventional smoke detector alarm, even when placed near their head. Because it is vitally important that everyone wake up immediately in the event of a fire, many companies now offer vocal smoke detectors.

Vocal smoke detectors alert children to fire using a unique alarm. In addition to emitting a traditional beeping sound, these detectors also emit vocal instructions recorded by a parent or guardian. The same studies mentioned above showed an almost 100% response rate when a vocal smoke detector was used in the same circumstances.

In the event of a fire, it is imperative that you and your family leave the home as soon as possible. Vocal smoke detectors make that far more likely. And, why wouldn't you own one? They cost about the same as a conventional detector.