You might be asking yourself, why would a Realtor want to write about falling furniture. Well, that’s simple, it’s something that as a buyer or a seller you should be aware of. You see, prior to when you have put your home on the market, did you think about the safety? Not just hiding of your valueables, prescription drugs, and unmentionables because not all buyer’s are honest; but say the furniture too? Is the dresser strapped attached to the stud wall? Television mounted or strapped down? You see what I am getting at. And this goes for not just people who live in “earth-quake” zones, but everywhere.
As a buyer, especially the ones with children under 18, most know you shouldn’t touch any personal items, but the smaller children can to be curious at times. They may see something cool or exciting and want a closer look, climb up the furniture and before you notice, the dresser / TV could be on top of them.
There was a study done from 1990-2007 by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital that an average of nearly 15,000 children younger than 18 years of age visited emergency departments annually for injuries received from furniture tip-overs. According to the study, most furniture tip-over-related injuries occurred among children younger than 7 years of age and resulted from televisions tipping over. The study also found that more than one quarter of the injuries occurred when children pulled over or climbed on furniture. Even children ages 10-17 years were more likely to suffer injuries which included desks, cabinets or bookshelves tipping over. But head and neck injuries were most common with younger children, while children older than 9 years were more likely to suffer injuries to the lower body.
I, as a mom, and a Realtor sometimes need reminding of the simple things. Last night was that reminder. We had a close call with a dresser falling with a tv and some other things on the top of it. My two daughters were unharmed, but it was enough to scare them (and me). They were not just scared, but terrified of what could’ve happened. You see, my oldest daughter was getting a pair of socks out of the top drawer and when she opened it, all 6 drawers opened too. This caused the dresser to tilt forward so she got scared and jumped out of the way where it fell completely. The stuff on top (TV slid off and out of the wall and managed to not break). My youngest daughter was on the bunkbed ladder just as it was falling towards her and she scrambled up to the bed. My husband was in the kitchen when he heard the loud crash and ran back to help. I was just leaving a meeting when he called.
So it got me thinking about the what if’s… what would you do? Do you already have your large furniture secured to prevent injuries? Even though warnings from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the number of injuries involving televisions and other furniture tipping over onto children has increased in the US since the early 1990s.
“There was a more than 40 percent increase in the number of injuries during the study period, and the injury rate also significantly increased during these years,” said study senior author Gary Smith, MD, DrPH, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “This trend demonstrates the inadequacy of current prevention strategies and underscores the need for increased prevention efforts,” he adds.
The study is published in the online issue of Clinical Paediatrics in May 2009.
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