Secure Your Television and Bookcases to the Wall Avoid Tip-Over Related Injuries
And Other Furniture!Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, analyzed federal data on injuries. They estimate as many as 14,700 children are injured at home every year by falling TVs and other heavy furniture.
Dr. Gary Smith, former emergency medicine doctor and head of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, says other children aren’t so lucky.
Tip-Over Related Injuries
Smith and colleagues analyzed data from the national Electronic Injury Surveillance System. They looked at all emergency room patients under 17 years old who suffered furniture or TV tip-over related injuries from 1990 to 2007.
They estimate a total of 264,200 children and adolescents were treated for such injuries during the 18-year study period. This averages to 14,700 injuries among children every year. Three-hundred died as a result of their injuries during this period.
Most of the children were under six years old, and the number of injuries was highest for two years olds.
Researchers say when young children are toddlers, newly mobile and curious, they will grab onto anything, no matter how unstable, in order to steady themselves.
Safeguards
Baby proof the furniture, particularly TVs.
As parents we should be doing a walk through of the home to determine what furniture might be a hazard and then take steps to anchor it. Take the time to look around your house and try to determine what could easly be pulled over by a toddler.
Today’s TVs may be more lightweight than the old tube TVs but they’re still accident prone. They’re much easier to tip over.
TVs are best placed on stands specifically designed to hold them. A low stand is clearly better than a high one. And it’s always best to mount TVs on the wall or anchored into the wall.
TVs and other heavy furniture can be anchored to walls with simple brackets or straps bought from any hardware store.
Source: NPR – Patti Neighmond