|
||||||||||||
|
|
3 children fall from windows Thursday
Wednesday was a nearly perfect spring day in Minnesota, the kind of day you almost 'have' to open the windows. That fact is likely behind 3 terrible incidents where children fell from windows across the Twin Cities, leaving one dead and two injured. In Vadnais Heights around 1pm, 22 month old Norah Paulson fell through a second story window of her family's apartment, and dropped 14 feet onto the concrete below. She was rushed to Regions Medical Center, and pronounced dead on arrival. Just over an hour later, a two year old boy in Andover plunged from a second story window at his family's home, and landed face first on a cement slab. He was rushed to North Memorial Medical Center, as was a Forest Lake 2 year old who apparently pushed through a screen. The two boys are expected to recover. "We've seen each and every year a child die, or being seriously injured as a result of falls out of windows," said State Senator Linda Berglin, who last year sponsored legislation to strengthen screens in new or rehabbed apartments, townhomes, and single family dwellings. The bill was weakened due to industry objections, but will still require stronger screens on new multi-unit dwellings, screens that will withstand 100 pounds of force. The measure will take effect in July of 2009, through a change in State building code. Not everyone believes stronger screens will solve the problem. Brent Woods of Wellington Windows and Doors maintains that building safety features into the windows 'themselves' is the best way to protect kids. "We keep focusing on window safety, we've added features like the vent locks," explained Woods, demonstrating the locking system that only allows a window to be opened 4 inches, not wide enough for a child to slip through. Remarkably, children falling through windows is not a rare occurance. The Minnesota Department of Health maintains 4000 kids are injured, and 12 killed across the U-S each year in window falls. Between 1993 and 2007 in Minnesota, 193 children were seriously injured, and 19 lost their lives falling from windows.
|
 MORE HEADLINES |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
