Home Safe Home: Child Window Safety

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Windows play a vital role in home safety, serving as a secondary escape route in the event of a fire or other emergency, but they also pose a risk for a fall if safety measures are not followed. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue and Safe Kids are providing the following safety tips to help prevent window-related injuries in the home:

• Never rely on window screens to keep children from falling out of windows. A screen is not a safety device - - it is designed to keep insects out, not to keep children in.


• Keep furniture such as sofas, beds and dressers away from windows. This will discourage children from climbing near any windows.


• Keep windows closed and locked when they are not being used.


• When windows are open for ventilation, take advantage of all safety features. If possible, open windows from the top and not the bottom if you have double-hung windows – the kind that can open down from the top as well as up from the bottom.


• Install safety devices such as window guards or window stops to help prevent falls.

Window falls can happen quickly and, in some cases, can be deadly. When keeping your kids safe, MCFRS reminds parents that no device can replace active supervision. For more safety tips, visit our website at www.mcfrs.org/mcsafe.

Partnering Up To Help Make Our Seniors Safe

MCFRS and Red Cross teamed up for a Senior Safety outreach effort yesterday. Working with Meals on Wheels, more than a dozen homes had a home fire safety evaluation. 

Smoke alarms were checked and any potential fire and/or injury hazards identified! If smoke alarms were not working, crews either installed a new alarm or battery depending on the circumstance.

More than a dozen homes are a little bit safer now than before yesterday!

Safety Recalls

Below are several safety recalls via our partners in safety - Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

NVIDIA Recalls Tablet Computers Due to Fire Hazard

Cooper Lighting Recalls Fluorescent Lighting Fixtures Due to Fire Hazard

Whirlpool Recalls Jenn-Air Wall Ovens Due to Risk of Burns

Avon Recalls Nut Chopper Due to Risk of Injury

Instant Pot Pressure Cookers Recalled by Double Insight Due to Shock Hazard (Recall Alert)

Bexco Recalls DaVinci Brand Cribs Due to Entrapment, Fall and Laceration Hazards

Olympus Recalls Digital Point-And-Shoot Camera Due to Shock Hazard; Sold Exclusively at HHGregg Appliance

Several Safety Recalls

Several safety recalls occurred yesterday that I wanted to make you aware of. They cover potential injury hazards.

I am posting these as all of us at MCFRS hope to prevent any of you from having to call 911 because you have been injured.  Help us to help YOU by reviewing the recalls below and take the recommended steps to handle the situation if you find you are impacted by any of the recalls.

As always thanks to our partners in safety, Consumer Product Safety Commission, for making this important information available.

Recalls:

1. Schylling Recalls Police Press and Go Toy Vehicles Due to Choking Hazard 
2. IKEA Recalls Pressure-Mounted Safety Gates Due to Fall Hazard 
3. Cost Plus World Market Recalls Twist Swivel Stools Due to Fall Hazard

Open the Window to Safety This Spring - National Window Safety Week, April 7-13

A little over two weeks ago, MCFRS Units responded to a call for a 3 year old who had fallen from a 4th floor window.  Miraculously, the young child survived and will be okay.

Unfortunately young children falling out of open windows occurs every year, locally and nationally, and usually starts right around this time as the weather begins to turn nice.  Also unfortunate is the fact that not all of those falls usually have a happy ending like the incident two weeks ago.  Please take a moment to review the timely life safety tips as it relates to windows below.

Stay Safe, 

Bill D

Windows play a vital role in home safety, serving as a secondary escape route in the event of a fire or other emergency, but they also pose a risk for a fall if safety measures are not followed. As part of National Window Safety Week, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue and Safekids Montgomery are providing the following safety tips to help prevent window-related injuries in the home: 

- Never rely on window screens to keep children from falling out of windows. A
screen is not a safety device - - it is designed to keep insects out, not to keep children in.

- Keep furniture such as sofas, beds and dressers away from windows. This will discourage children from climbing near any windows.

- Keep windows closed and locked when they are not being used.

- When windows are open for ventilation, take advantage of all safety features. If possible, open windows from the top and not the bottom if you have double-hung windows – the kind that can open down from the top as well as up from the bottom.

- Install safety devices such as window guards or window stops which prevent children from falling open windows that children cannot reach.

Window falls can happen quickly and, in some cases, can be deadly. When keeping your kids safe, MCFRS reminds parents that no device can replace active supervision. For more safety tips, visit our website at www.mcfrs.org/mcsafe.  

Kids and Bike Helmets: The Right Fit

Bike helmets are not optional equipment. A helmet is your last line of defense in an accident - never ride without one!

Helmets have been shown in studies to reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by 90 percent. Your child is 14 times more likely to survive a bike crash if he/she is wearing a helmet. Each year in the United States, approximately 250 children die in bicycle-related accidents, and about half a million are injured in bicycling accidents. Although it's estimated that 75% of the serious injuries could have been avoided if a helmet was worn, only about 20% of children in the United States wear a helmet.

Montgomery County requires anyone under age 18 to wear a bicycle helmet when riding or being carried on a bicycle, including a bicycle with training wheels, on a public street, right-of-way, sidewalk or bicycle path in the County.

For more information, go here: Bike Safety and Bike Helmets