Now that it’s getting warmer, you may be thinking about opening some windows in your home. But if you have young children, you must be careful.
“When the weather gets warm, people compensate by opening windows and letting natural breezes flow through the house,” Dr. Brian Johnston, chief of pediatrics at Harborview Medical Center, said in a release from UW Medicine. “We see a very clear correlation between the temperature outside and the number of window fall cases we admit here at Harborview.”
Every year, about 30 to 50 young children—most of them 2-3 years old—are treated at Harborview Medical Center after falling out of windows.
“The actual injuries we see depend a little on where the child lands and what they hit on the way down,” Johnston said. “Because toddlers tend to be top-heavy, they typically fall headfirst. So, unfortunately, we see a lot of injuries to the arms, shoulders, and head.”
Screened windows can prove just as dangerous
Even if a window with a screen can still be dangerous.
“A screen gives a false sense of confidence that somehow no one’s going to fall through it,” he said. “Insect screens are designed to pop out—they’re meant to be a way for you to escape a fire in your house. So they do not typically support the weight of a curious toddler leaning against them.”
There are window stops you can install to limit how far a window can be opened.
“If you have double-hung windows, you could open the top window rather than the bottom,” Johnston said. “And then, of course, we talk about supervision.”
If a child falls out of a window, Johnston said it is crucial to call 911. He added that all open windows should be treated as if they have no screens.
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