Falling Flat-Screen TVs, a growing threat for kids

[katty]

more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30686493/

By Alex Johnson
Reporter
updated 5:23 a.m. PT, Tues., May 12, 2009

Alex Johnson
Reporter


Samara Brinkley dozed off just for a moment as she was watching cartoons on TV with her 4-year-old daughter.

Then “I heard the boom, and I woke up and I my child laying on the floor, and I a pool of blood coming out in the back of her head,” said Brinkley, 26, of Jacksonville, Fla.

Dymounique Wilson, one of Brinkley’s two daughters, died last Wednesday when the family’s 27-inch television fell over on her.

Nearly 17,000 children were rushed to emergency rooms in 2007, the last year for which complete figures were available, after heavy or unstable furniture fell over on them, a new study reported this month.

[Duke Newcombe]

1. Secure, functioning TVs of ANY type...

...are a threat to kids, with the crap on nowadays...

[ejpoeta]

2. how the hell did the tv fall over!!! geesh!! i could see if it was sitting on a tv tray or

something, but most people don't do that anymore!!

[Goblinmonger]

4. Don't know, but I could see someone

mounting it on the wall but not putting the screws into a stud. With that weight eventually the mountings would pull out. Though a 27" isn't going to weight that much, really.

[CreekDog]

10. not that heavy except when gravity is applied and falling from any height will do that

Fg = G (m1*m2)/(d^2)

[Xipe Totec]

7. I had a friend lose a brand new flat panel TV just sitting on the floor

waiting to be installed.

Those things are top-heavy, dangerous, and unstable.

[konnichi wa]

3. It's awfully sad, but 'regular' TV sets are much heavier and kids are killed by

other falling furniture too. Especially dangerous are chests of drawers that a toddler can climb up like a ladder.
:cry:

[backscatter712]

5. My bet is that it's harder to knock over an old CRT TV.

They're heavier, and they have a broader base, which makes it hard for a toddler to knock them over.

Flat-screens tip much more easily.

[konnichi wa]

9. Oh, I thought it fell off the wall, couldn't get to that other link.

Yes, they are more top heavy on the little stands...most everyone I know bolts them on the wall.

[Touchdown]

18. The front glass is heavy. The back of the boob is fairly light.

It is very front heavy, which is why you should carry it with the screen to your torso.

The older tubes will easily topple over if somebody gives it a yank forward.

[MADem]

6. Heavy, unstable furniture has been falling on children since furniture was first made.

But hey, it's "funner" to blame the big flat screen tv....and never mind the oven that was never bolted down....

[napi21]

8. It's not only TV's! I remember when I bought a new freestanding stove for my kitchen.

Initially, I didn't bother with direction. After all, I was replacing one electric stove with another one, and I figured all I had to do was slid the old one out, plug in and slide in the news one, and I'd be done. THEN I FOUND THIS METAL THING IN THE PACKAGE AND IT HAD A RED "IMPORTANT" TAG ON IT.

OK, so I read the directions. The metal thing was a safety clip that was to be screwed into a wall stud, and attached to the back of the stove to KEEP IT FROM FALLING OVER IF A CHILD STOOD ON AN OPEN OVEN DOOR! I sure never would have ever thought of something like that, and I had raised two boys!

About 10 years later, and in a different house in a different State, we were all sitting talking in the living room, and my 2 grandchildren were down the hall in another room watching cartoons on a 24" TV which was on a shelf of an entertainment center cabinet, and very stable. All of a sudden we heard 2 screams! The 7 yo granddaughter screamed "Andy (age 5) pulled the TV down!" We were lucky, it didn't hit him. He decided to climb up the shelves of the entertainment center, and used the TV to pull himself up to the next shelf! Nobody ever knows what creative thing kids will try!!!

Please do everything you can think of to secure furniture & appliances to the walls. Kids do the craziest things and sometimes it's disaster!

[CreekDog]

11. In earthquake country, everything is a possible projectile

In the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, my friend's brother was nearly clocked by a flying VCR (it was in one of those sliding trays in their entertainment center). Had he been facing the other way, he'd probably been knocked out cold or worse. Some other friends were downstairs and heard bookshelves and books crashing to the floor upstairs. We had paint cans flung across our garage in that one.

Word to the wise: secure all that you can to walls. don't have heavy pictures or items above your bed or at least securely attach them if you do. secure things like fish tanks and stands to the studs with earthquake straps. use earthquake straps to attach tv's to their stands and attach those stands to the studs with straps --it doesn't take that much time, it will make you safer AND that stuff is much less likely to break from a quake or some kid trying out his/her climbing skills. :think:

[Xithras]

13. Yep, all the furniture in my house is secured.

I did it for earthquakes, but when my youngest was two he tried to climb his dresser. We heard a scream and went running. The dresser had started to tip, the drawer above came sliding out, and his fingers ended up pinched pretty badly, but the earthquake strap stopped the dresser from toppling and making it a thousand times worse.

FWIW, the 50" Panasonic Plasma in my family room actually came with straps to secure it, and it took less than 30 seconds to install them with a screw gun. There's no excuse for people not using them.

[katty]

16. yup-that is why we have certain items in lock down mode

[AnneD]

12. Please before we sit in judgement......

Toddlers can get into trouble in the blink of an eye. Something can be improperly installed, mounted, or secured.

One time, a light fixture fell from the ceiling during my daughter's slumber party. All the girl did was toss her small stuffed animal up in the air-hitting the ceiling fixture and knocking it off onto their sleeping bags. On examination-it had been secured with 2 screws instead of four. I am sure they didn't think about it when they were installing it-but it could have seriously injured those little girls when it came crashing down.I had to spend the next 30 minutes reassuring a frightened crying little girl that 1) I was not mad at her for damaging the lamp 2) I was actually very thankful that she had discovered that improper installation and that I could repair it and make it safer 3)I was grateful no one was hurt.


Folks also need to remember that due to anatomy (the weight of the human head)-toddlers are top heavy to begin with so parents need to be very careful. Their curiosity, nimble agility, and fearlessness put them at risk for accidents.

[Blue Diadem]

14. My daughter's flat screen had a hole in the base to anchor it.

It's a bigger one, maybe 40-42" and it's really shakey just sitting alone. Screwing it into the TV stand stabalized it. I think any of them could have a simple hole drilled through the base so it can be anchored to a TV stand.

[moggie]

15. My 26" has one too

In addition, it has a projecting lug which can be screwed down. Why anyone with kids wouldn't secure their TV is beyond me.

[Touchdown]

17. It can't be a flat screen. They aren't 27"

27" is the standard size of the old tube Tvs with 4X3 aspect ratios. They are about 100-140 lbs.

I've never seen a widescreen flat panel TV in 27 inches. I could be wrong though.

[Mr. Ected]

19. Our Neighbors Lost Their Child, Too

A large wooden bookshelf fell on him when he tried to climb it.

He was 3.