Protect Children From TV Tip-over Injuries
Ninety nine percent of American households have at least one television and most parents would not consider the televisions in their homes to be dangerous.
A new study in the journal, Pediatrics, reveals a child is killed by a falling TV every three weeks and more than 17,000 children are treated each year in emergency rooms across the country from injuries related to TVs tipping over – that is roughly one child every half hour. Sadly, only one in four adults have taken action to properly secure their TVs to prevent them from tipping over.
Parents can reduce the risk of injury from TV tip-overs by following these safety tips:
• All TVs should be secured to the wall. Use safety straps or L-brackets for cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs and wall mounts for flat screen TVs.
• Place TVs only on furniture designed to support televisions, such as TV stands and
entertainment centers.
• Secure TV stands and entertainment centers to the wall using safety straps or L-brackets.
• Dressers, armoires or chests of drawers are not safe places for TVs because small children can easily climb on open drawers.
• Do not place toys or the remote control on top of the furniture or the TV, again because it is a potential temptation for children to climb to reach the item.
• Make sure TVs are safely secured in all the places your child spends time—not just in your home.
TV tip-overs are preventable and hopefully by increasing awareness about the risk that an unsecured TV poses to young children will help keep our children safe.