Home Safety
Dangers of Mini Blind Cords
The cords used for window draperies, vertical blinds, pleated shades, and horizontal blinds can be a strangulation danger to young children. Unfortunately, in the case of strangulation, the child cannot call out for help.
Frightening Statistics Regarding Children and Window Covering Cords
According to a study published in a June 1997 Journal of the American Medical Association article, it is estimated that:
- 359 children were strangled by window covering cords from 1981 to 1995, which is equivalent to one strangulation every two weeks.
- Nearly half (49 percent) of the strangulations go unreported.
- Almost all the deaths (93 percent) were children three years old and younger.
The study indicated that most strangulations occur when the parents thought the child was safe, such as in their rooms or in their bed or crib. In 85% of the documented cases, a parent was at home at the time of the death. Two common scenarios were found:
- Infants playing or sleeping in their cribs near windows got caught and tangled in the looped cords of the window treatment.
- Toddlers, while trying to look out a window or climbing on furniture, lost their footing and were wrapped in the cord.1
The US Consumer Products Safety Commission followed up with a more recent study. They found that from 1991 to 2000, there were 160 reported strangulations involving cords on window blinds. Of those, 140 strangulations involved the outer pull cords and 20 involved the inner cords that run through the window blind slats. In an extensive review of the inner cord deaths, all of these involved children in cribs or playpens placed next to windows. The strangulation victims ranged in age from 9 months to 17 months. The victims were able to pull out the inner cord to form a loop on which the child can become entangled.2
What is Being Done to Eliminate This Risk?
The US Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has been working with the window treatment industry to prevent these tragedies. In 1994, the CPSC and the window treatment industry agreed that blinds sold since 1995 would no longer have outer pull cords ending in loops.
Beginning in November 2000, window blinds have attachments on the pull cords so that the inner cords cannot be pulled out to form a loop.
These new innovations are on newer window treatments. However, there are still older window treatments out there without these safety features. Older window treatments should be examined for dangers and replaced or retrofitted. Looped outer cords or inner cords that can be pulled into a loop are a sign that something should be done.
What Can be Done to Prevent Children From Strangulation Due to Window Cords?
Young toddlers are most at risk because they are active enough to be able to stand, but are still a little uncoordinated and fall down quite often. The CPSC has found that the children most frequently involved in these tragedies were in the 12 to 15-month range of age.3 What can happen is the young child, while standing, will grab the window treatment cord and twirl around in a circle. The cord wraps around their body and neck. If they lose their balance and no one is in the room, the result can be deadly.
To avoid this situation, install hooks or stays high on the wall around which the window treatment cord can wrap so toddlers cannot reach the cord at all. Coordinate the location of cribs and furniture the toddler can climb on so that they are away from window treatment cords. Consider using cordless window treatments, especially in the rooms of young children.
The Window Covering Safety Council has the following suggestions for making these products safer for young children:
- Eliminate loops on two-corded horizontal blinds manufactured before 2001.
Note: The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) urges to not tie the cords together after cutting them. This will only create a new loop in which a child can become entangled.
- Move all cribs, beds, and furniture away from window treatments with external pull cords or inner cords.
- Keep pull cords and inner cords on window treatment out of reach from children on the floor.
- Make sure continuous loop window treatment cords that are permanently anchored to the floor or wall are properly installed to limit movement of the inner lift cords.
- Make sure tasseled pull cords are as short as possible.
- Consider installing cordless window treatment.
If you have small children under the age of 4 or frequent visits from small children, assess your window treatment cords in your home. If your window treatments are older, consider replacing them or retrofitting them. New tassels, tie-downs, and attachments that keep the inner cords from looping are available free of charge from the Window Covering Safety Council by calling (800) 506-4636
.
