Window Safety
Falls from windows are the leading cause of nonfatal injury for children under 15 and are responsible for the deaths of 140 children each year in the United States. Another three million are injured, mostly during the summer months when windows are kept open and children are more likely to be playing on fire escapes, roofs, and balconies. Children at greatest risk are those living in urban areas, especially youngsters living in deteriorating, low-income apartment buildings.
However, urban children are not the only ones at risk—falls from the first- and second-floor windows of private homes can also be dangerous, depending on how the child falls and what he lands on. The most common injuries are fractures and head trauma.
Parents should never leave a child unattended around an open window, and a window open only five inches can pose a serious danger to a young child, especially a curious toddler or preschooler. In addition, all furniture should be moved away from open windows, because children as young as one year may be able to use it to climb up to the window.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), parents should install window guards on second-story and higher windows (and require landlords to do the same). For example, after the New York health code was changed to require protective window guards on all multiple-family dwellings, the number of children who fell from windows each year plummeted by about 90 percent. The best window guards are those that are designed to keep children in, but that allow an older child or adult to open the window in case of emergency. Parents should never rely on window screens to protect a child from a possible fall, because the screens are easily lifted, torn, or pushed out. If a landlord has installed window guards in a building, renters should never remove them, even if they obstruct the view.
The AAP also recommends that parents:
• discourage children from playing in high areas, such as balconies, rooftops, fire escapes, and porches
• ensure that building codes require railings to have vertical openings of four inches or less
• plant grass or shrubbery at the base of tall buildings to act as a cushion in case of a fall
However, urban children are not the only ones at risk—falls from the first- and second-floor windows of private homes can also be dangerous, depending on how the child falls and what he lands on. The most common injuries are fractures and head trauma.
Parents should never leave a child unattended around an open window, and a window open only five inches can pose a serious danger to a young child, especially a curious toddler or preschooler. In addition, all furniture should be moved away from open windows, because children as young as one year may be able to use it to climb up to the window.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), parents should install window guards on second-story and higher windows (and require landlords to do the same). For example, after the New York health code was changed to require protective window guards on all multiple-family dwellings, the number of children who fell from windows each year plummeted by about 90 percent. The best window guards are those that are designed to keep children in, but that allow an older child or adult to open the window in case of emergency. Parents should never rely on window screens to protect a child from a possible fall, because the screens are easily lifted, torn, or pushed out. If a landlord has installed window guards in a building, renters should never remove them, even if they obstruct the view.
The AAP also recommends that parents:
• discourage children from playing in high areas, such as balconies, rooftops, fire escapes, and porches
• ensure that building codes require railings to have vertical openings of four inches or less
• plant grass or shrubbery at the base of tall buildings to act as a cushion in case of a fall
Posted in Health and Wellness
Comments (1)
Thank you very much for careful reminder.
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