Every year, many children are injured or even killed due to falls from home windows. It’s an easy thing to dismiss, but safety and awareness on the parental end is a must in this area. Safe Kids Mid-South, led by Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, offers these tips to prevent window falls:
- Install window guards to prevent children from falling out of windows. For windows above the first floor, install window guards with an emergency release device in case of fire.
- Install window stops so that windows open no more than four inches.
- Keep windows locked and closed when they are not being used.
- Keep furniture away from windows so kids cannot climb to the ledge.
- If you have double-hung windows — the kind that can open down from the top as well as up from the bottom — it is generally safer to open the top pane, but growing kids may have enough strength, dexterity and curiosity to open the bottom pane.
- Do not rely on window screens to prevent falls.
- Keep windows locked when they are closed.
- Supervise children at all times, especially around open windows.
- Never try to move a child who appears to be seriously injured after a fall — call 911 and let trained medical personnel move the child with proper precautions
