![]() ![]() "What families need to know and be aware of is that children can go unconscious within 15 to 20 seconds of being strangled by a blind cord. She says when children become caught in a window cord, parents often have little warning that something is happening. "Often the injuries are fatal or are devastating injuries that result in significant, life-altering injuries." "Anecdotally, I know at the Alberta Children's Hospital, approximately every three years we have a child who comes to the emergency department having suffered one of these injuries. "However, I find that that statistic significantly underestimates the risk," she said. Simonelli says these types of injuries are not very common, but data shows that corded blinds are the cause of death for at least one child each year in Canada. Children, without realizing what they're doing, can very easily become tangled and, generally it's their necks that become tangled in corded window coverings if cords are too long," she told CTV News in an interview Friday. "What's most concerning about corded window coverings is that they present very significant strangulation risk to small children. Michelle Simonelli, an emergency physician at the Alberta Children's Hospital and director of the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program, says the new regulations will help keep children safe. While Health Canada changed the regulations a year ago, the agency says it will now be conducting inspections starting on Sunday to ensure businesses that sell window blinds are in compliance with the new rules.ĭr. The reason for the change is to prevent situations where children become tangled in the long cords – incidents that can lead to life-altering injuries and even death. On May 1, 2021, Health Canada reduced the length of cords allowed on window blinds to 22 centimetres and the perimeters of loops created by reachable cords to 44 centimetres. However, the rules came into effect last year and some businesses are concerned about the confusion it's causing for customers looking to buy window coverings for their homes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |