How the Senses Affect Fire Safety

During waking hours the sense of smell can help detect a fire, a potential fire, or a stove or oven left on after cooking. However, don’t count on smell to detect smoke or fires during sleep! The sense of smell, and the ability to detect smoke diminishes with age.

Touch can determine an appliance is overheating or a doorknob is scorching, and can trigger a quick reaction to prevent a fire. The acuteness of this sense can be measured by the ability to gauge the difference between cool, cold, neutral, warm and hot, and to feel and hold things normally. In many older adults the sense of touch becomes weaker. That makes daily tasks such as unplugging electrical cords harder to do. Touch problems, as well as thinning skin, lead to a higher risk for burn injuries and increased severity of burns for seniors.

Eye problems and vision loss constitute a serious fire risk. Older adults may not be able to see a fire, notice potential hazards (such as a falling candle or a cigarette that has tumbled from a bedside ashtray) or locate doors and escape routes. People with poor vision are more likely to stumble and fall when in a hurry, impeding their ability to escape from a fire. Glasses help the eyes focus, but may not solve all vision problems. In any case, an older adult awakened at night in an emergency may have difficulty finding the glasses.

People with normal hearing easily hear the blare of a smoke alarm and other warning sounds of a fire. On the other hand, aging adults with hearing loss may not be able to hear these sounds, especially while sleeping.

Source: Fred P. Baumgartner, Firepoint Technologies Inc.

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