ER’s are seeing more and more TV related injuries on children due to TV’s toppling over, which has more than doubled in the past few years.
According to a study, an estimated 17,000 children are seen in the ER for this type of injury.
“This is an example of an injury that is so preventable that it really is a tragedy that they continue,” said study author Dr. Gary Smith, president of the Child Injury Prevention Alliance, a national nonprofit organization. “This paper is a call to action. It tells us that we’re not doing enough to prevent these injuries in our homes,” he said.
The age group most often hurt by toppling TVs were children under the age of 5, and boys accounted for almost two-thirds of those injured. Approximately two-thirds of the injuries involved the head and neck.
Cuts and soft-tissue damage were the most common diagnosis, accounting for nearly three-quarters of injuries treated by doctors. But concussions and other kinds of bumps to the head were also common, making up 13 percent of injuries to children under age 5 and 7 percent of injuries to older children.
Researchers think the increase in TV tip-overs can be explained, in part, by opportunity. More families now have more than one TV around the house. “It’s not just the fact that there are more TVs in the home. We think there’s something else going on,” Smith said.
As boxy older models make way for newer flat-screens, the older TVs are being placed atop dressers, bookshelves and armories. “These are types of furniture that are simply not designed to safely support a TV,” he said.
In cases where doctors noted the piece of furniture associated with the fall, researchers found there was a nearly quadrupled increase over the years in the number of times a dresser, chest-of-drawers or armoire was involved.
What’s more, older TVs are often moved to bedrooms and basements — places where parents may not always be watching. About 45 percent of child deaths from TV and furniture tip-overs happen in bedrooms, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
It’s important to secure both the television and its stand to the wall if young children are in the house. The study authors recommend that TV anchoring devices be made available when people purchase their TVs.
