By Steven Smith, Attorney & David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Every year, more than 5,100 American children are taken to the hospital after falling out of windows. More than a quarter of these children are admitted with serious injuries.
Between 1990 and 2008, nearly 98,415 children under the age of 18 were treated at hospitals for injuries sustained after falling out of a window. Tragically, two of the window failing incidents resulted in the death of a child. Toddlers led the injury statistics, however, accounting for two-thirds of all cases because they are curious, don’t understand the danger, and have a high center of gravity.
Although the number has slightly decreased over the last 19 years, the number is still too high. While many people know how to prevent this problem, there are still those who do not.
Parents, baby sitters, schools, and day care centers need to make an extra effort to keep their children safe around windows. Window screens will not be enough. However, child care providers can ensure that kids do not have access to a window. For example, furniture can be moved away near windows so that children cannot climb atop, by therefore putting themselves more at risk to falling.
Parents can also install window guards or stops. Some cities, in fact, may have mandated this already. In New York, for instance, the Health Code requires apartment buildings to install guards on all windows in households with kids under 11.
If parents perform these simple safety tasks, they can decrease their child’s risk to falling out of a window.
For more information, see Thousands of kids in hospital for window fall.