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Venetian blinds an unlikely, but deadly, hazard
June 3, 1997
Web posted at: 8:34 p.m. EDT (0034 GMT)From Correspondent Rhonda Rowland
ATLANTA (CNN) -- They can be easily overlooked, an unlikely household hazard that even the most diligent parents may not notice.
But Venetian window blinds cause the death of at least two children each month in the United States, according to the American Medical Association. The danger: a child's head can become entangled in the loops of the cord, causing strangulation and death.
1 min. 46 sec. VXtreme streaming video of Dangerous Blinds
"This is a real shocker because parents would never stop to think that Venetian blind cords were deadly," said Ann Brown of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. "It's a total hidden danger."
More than 90 percent of the children strangled by the blinds are three years old or younger.
But it's easy to take a few simple steps to protect the child. For starters, move the crib away from the window.
The most common scenario is a child reaches for a cord. That causes the cord to hang onto the crib, and then the child gets tangled.
Another safety tip: move toys away from the cords, as well as any furniture on which children can climb. A common scenario is the child climbs atop the toy or piece of furniture and gets tangled in the cord.
"If that toy or stool falls out from under them, that's an automatic way for children to hang themselves," Maryann Johnson of Egleston Children's Hospital said. "That's usually how an older child" would get hurt.
The best fix is to cut any loops in the cords, tying plastic tassles at the end of each of the strings.
Childproofing a home with Venetian blinds is easy, and the necessary parts can be obtained without charge through the Window Covering Safety Council at 1-800-506-4636.
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