On December 15, 2009, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of ALL Roman shades and roll-up blinds. This is a major recall of 50 million products and applies to EVERY Roman shade and roll-up blind. The agency has received reports of 5 deaths and 16 near strangulations since 2006 from Roman shades and 3 deaths since 2001 from roll-up blinds.
Consumers that have Roman shades or roll-up blinds in their homes, particularly with small children, should contact the Window Covering Safety Council immediately at www.windowcoverings.org or by calling (800) 506-4535 to receive a free repair kit.
Safe Kids Mid-South reminds parents of the following window covering safety tips:
- Parents should raise blinds or shades above their child's heads.
- They also should cut cords or make sure no dangling cords are within a child's reach.
- And parents should move all furniture - especially cribs - away from windows to prevent toddlers from reaching dangling cords or tumbling out of windows.