Chicago Window Expert

As long as there is gravity and glass it will be sadly inevitable that someone will fall from a window, resulting in injury or death. Unfortunately, most who suffer these accidents are children, and most of these accidents could have been prevented.

A number of studies have delved into the statistics regarding falls from windows. The most recent, published in September 2011 in Pediatrics, the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, took a new and unique tack. It is a study entitled, “Pediatric Injuries Attributable to Falls From Windows in the United States in 1990-2008” by Vaughn A. Harris, Lynne M. Rochette and Gary A. Smith.

The authors accessed a wealth of data provided by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), a service of the CSPC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission. NEISS uses data from about 100 hospital emergency departments and extrapolates their results to represent activity at 6100 similar hospitals.

Neiss - National Electronic Injury Surveillance System

These data are publicly available. You can query the NEISS system for free. NEISS even publishes a coding manual that helps the user inputting search criteria for injuries associated with consumer products.

The authors analyzed the output from their search not only by tabulating data for years 1990 through 2008, but also by searching and analyzing descriptive language filed in the accident reports. From this analysis, they were able to evaluate not only the normally available data fields such as gender, age, treatment level and injury type, but they also teased out additional data, such as height of fall, status of the window, presence of a screen, involvement of nearby furniture and even the landing surface.

These were the NEISS product codes studied: Windows (1894), storm windows (1826), window glass (1870), window sills (1870), window blinds (1828), shades or shutters (0638), window screens (1828), plastic window panels (1854), window barriers (1888), and window locks (0707).

Double hung, single hung and sliding windows are similar in operation. They have a similar set of locking solutions. A lock that limits the sash travel to a set maximum is called a limit stop. Above, a variety of limit stop and window guard solutions are presented

Here are some results:

During the 19 year study period, about 98,400 children were treated in US hospital emergency departments for window-fall related injuries.

.2%, or 197 children, an average of over 10 per year, died of their injuries. The fatality statistic is unrealistically low because those who fell and died and were not taken to emergency departments were not counted due to the unavailability of statistics. The true number could be many times that which was reported. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission stated they knew of 120 window-fall related deaths to children during 1990-2000, which averages to about 11 per year.

Three quarters of those injured in falls from windows were treated and released. One quarter became inpatients.

Injuries increase with the temperature. Incidence of injuries spiked for ages 2-5, then tapered to a lower level through age 17. Age two has especially high injury rates, giving new meaning to the phrase the “terrible twos”.

Findings presented by Karen Sheehan, MD, MPH, Medical Director Childrens Memorial Hospital. "Lessons Learned: Preventing Window Falls in Chicago"

Boys represented 58% of the injured. Thirty eight percent of the injured kids displayed risky behavior such as climbing out of or jumping from a window.

31% fell from a one-story window. 63% fell from the second story. The remaining 6% fell from three-stories or higher. Understandably, this last group had a higher percentage of fractures or death as a result of the fall.

Insect screens

83% of the windows had a screen in place before the fall. The authors state that “Parents and other child caregivers should be counseled not to depend on screens to prevent children from falling out of windows. To prevent these falls, window guards or window locks that prevent the window from opening greater than 4 inches should be used.”

Important statistics presented in Karen Sheehan's presentation point to double hung windows as the predominant type of window involved in falls in Chicago.

Adjacent furniture

4% of the falls involved adjacent furniture that raised the patient closer to the window. This number is also low due to low availability of data. Only 5% of the cases had information on this topic. However if you extrapolate the numbers, you could justify a percentage as high as 80%.

Landing surface

There was only information regarding the landing surface in 24% of the occurrences. Of these, 40% landed on hard surfaces such as concrete or asphalt, 43% landed on firm surfaces such as dirt, and 16% landed on soft surfaces such as bushes. Those who landed on hard surfaces were more likely to sustain head injuries. The authors state, “In a fall, the 2 factors that determine the amount of energy transferred to a child’s body on impact with the landing surface are the height of the fall and the energy-absorbing capacity of the surface. Therefore, window fall prevention efforts also should consider the properties of the surfaces below windows.”

Fall rates were much higher before 1996. There may have been a positive effect of public awareness and local programs such as “Kids Can’t Fly”, which promoted the use of window guards.

The authors conclude: “Prevention measures for young children should aim to prevent falls by reducing the child’s opportunity to exit the window, through the use of devices such as window guards or window locks and through placement of furniture away from windows, to decrease access to windows by young children.”

This little device (arrows) is built in to many newer single and double hung windows. Unfortunately many people don't know what the flat rectangle on their window is (left). It is a "night latch". Flip it out to limit sash travel.

European Study

The 2006 article “The silent epidemic of falls from buildings: analysis of risk factors”, by Lena Mayer, Martin Meuli, Ulrich Lips and Bernhard Frey studied seven years of emergency department activity at the University Children’s Hospital Zurich. Their results, which also include falls from balconies, will have a familiar ring:

Fifteen children (49%) climbed on a piece of furniture before falling. In almost 20% of the accidents dangerous balcony or house constructions led to the fall. In seven accidents (23%) there was a chair, a bed, or bedside table, a sofa or a ledge in front of the window allowing the children to move up.

They also found that falls correlated more strongly with “an immigrant family setting” and low socio-professional category of the parents.

Hopper windows, also known as project-in, are similar in construction to awning windows (project-out), and casement windows (side hinged, inswing or outswing). Two main devices for limiting sash travel are used with these windows. Top left: a limit device that attaches to sash and frame and limits sash travel. Lower left shows a closeup of the hopper hinge. The arrow points to a metal shoe that travels along the hinge track. To limit the sash opening, a metal bar is placed in the track and screwed in position.

Window Guards
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a policy statement entitled “Falls From Heights: Windows, Roofs, and Balconies”

The policy points out children older than one year old can not pass through a 4-in opening. As a result of this, most regional code agencies have adopted the 4-in spacing standard.

“In 1976, the New York City Board of Health, noting that window falls accounted for 12% of deaths from unintentional injury of children younger than 15 years, passed a law requiring the owners of multiple-story dwellings to provide window guards in apartments where children 10 years and younger reside. The pilot program resulted in a 35% reduction in deaths attributable to falls from windows and a 50% reduction in incidents; no child fell from a window equipped with a window guard.”

“The mandatory program resulted in a reduction of up to 96% in admissions to local hospitals for the treatment of window-fall-related injuries. Follow-up through 1993 revealed a continuing downward trend. Recent data on the New York City experience showed no increase in the number of deaths attributable to residential fires (in fact, there was a decrease) after the introduction of window guards as required by city ordinance.”

Guidance from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

To help prevent injuries and tragedies, CPSC recommends the following safety tips:

• Safeguard your children by using window guards or window stops.
• Install window guards to prevent children from falling out of windows. (For windows on the 6th floor and below, install window guards that adults and older children can open easily in case of fire.)
• Install window stops so that windows open no more than 4 inches.
• Never depend on screens to keep children from falling out of windows.
• Whenever possible, open windows from the top, not the bottom.
• Keep furniture away from windows, to discourage children from climbing near windows.
• Some jurisdictions require landlords to install guards. Check your local regulations.

Recent News
February 4, 2012, Boy, 5, falls 10m onto concrete from window, Auburn, NSW, AU
February 2, 2012, Saved just weeks ago, 3-year-old plunges again… to her death, Abu Dhabi, UAE
February 2, 2012, Start with parents to stop tragic falls, Dubai, UAE
January 31, 2012, New rules to protect kids in high-rises, Perth, Western Australia, AU
January 17, 2012, Toddler falls from upstairs window, Campsie, New South Wales, AU
December 1, 2011, Another child dies in high-rise fall, Sharjah, UAE
September 30, 2011, Bronx teen dies after 60-foot fall from window, Bronx, NY
September 28, 2011, Safety probe into high-rise windows after eight child deaths, Dubai, UAE
September 28, 2011, Toddler Critical After Head-First Fall from Window, Orange County, CA
September 12, 2011, Child Falls from Window, Beaverton, OR
September 8, 2011, Parents urged to childproof windows after record number of falls in Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
August 3, 2011, 11-month-old St. Paul girl dies in fall from ninth-floor window, St. Paul, MN
July 18, 2011, 4-year-old Boy Dies After Third-Story Fall, Marina Del Rey, CA
July 11, 2011, At Least 8 Kids Fall From Windows, Authorities Urge Precautions, Portland, OR
April 13, 2009, Boy falls to death from same window as brother, Allendale Twp, MI

Resources
New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Window Falls Prevention Program
Link to the June 21, 2000 CSPC Standards for Window Guards

Dangerous windows?

Mark Meshulam, Chicago Window Expert, reminds you to protect our precious children from the danger of falls from windows

Even if you are in ,
call me, Mark Meshulam,

the Chicago Window Expert

For the expert attention you deserve

My phone: 847-878-8922

My email: Mark@ChicagoWindowExpert.com

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