Child window blind risk warning
Wednesday June 30th, 2010
Venetian blinds need redesigning to prevent injury to young children, a paediatrician says today.
Dr
Mahesh Masan, from Elgin, Scotland, set out to investigate the problem
after a toddler aged 22 months narrowly escaped death after getting tangled
up in the looped cord from a blind in her bedroom.
The girl was found hanging, rushed to hospital and spent three days on a ventilator.
It was only because the girl's mother checked her bedroom that she was found before she suffocated, Dr Masan says.
Dr Masan's research has found 11 deaths of Australian children since 2000.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dr Masan calls for urgent redesign of blinds.
He said: "One cannot stop all accidents happening but at least can limit the chance of their happening.
"There should be a safer way of raising a blind than using a looped cord."
Dr Masan says parents can take their own steps to ensure cords are out of reach of children.
Tags: A&E | Australia | Child Health | UK News
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