Parents urged to secure TVs, furniture; one child dies every two weeks due to tipovers
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is asking parents to inspect and secure TVs, furniture and appliances in child-proofing efforts. On average, one child dies every two weeks due to tipovers.
Between 2000 and 2008, CPSC staff received reports of nearly 200 tipover related deaths involving children 8 and younger. Nearly all of these fatalities (93%) involved children 5 and younger.
More than 16,000 children five years old and younger were treated in emergency rooms because of injuries associated with TVs, furniture, and appliance tipovers according to CPSC staff’s most recent estimates from 2006. To read more and to learn how to prevent tip-overs, click here.
This year, the CPSC is intensifying its outreach efforts by partnering with numerous organizations, including clinics and second-hand stores, to disseminate a two minute PSA including a powerful testimonial of a parent who lost her two-year-old in a TV tipover incident and a poster. In addition, consumers will be able to stream a 20 second version of the PSA through October 23, 2010 by texting TVFALL to 878787.