Kids Can’t Fly – Protect Them From Window Falls

*Kids Can’t Fly theme used with permission from the Boston Public Health Commission.
 Falls are the leading cause of injury to children, and falls from windows involving young children are especially serious. Window falls are preventable. The Lowell Health Department began an educational campaign in the spring of 2010 to offer safety tips for parents and caregivers. This year we are giving away FREE window safety guards.
Each year this campaign will begin early spring, when the weather warms up and people start to think about opening their windows. This campaign will end in the fall when cooler weather comes and windows are no longer opened. Please remember……window screens are designed to keep bugs out and are not strong enough to prevent a child from falling.
To prevent window falls, parents and caregivers should:

• Install window safety guards. Massachusetts building codes require that a window guard must have a quick- release that can be operated by an adult or older child in an emergency.
• Keep all furniture, especially beds, sofas and dressers, or anything else children can climb away from windows.
•  Lock all unopened doors and windows. * Open windows from the top down, especially when there are children in the home. If you have to open them from the bottom, window safety devices such window wedges will limit the opening of a window to 4 inches. If the windows in your home are the newer vinyl windows, look for the pull out tabs on the bottom half of the top window. These tabs are approximately 3-4 inches from the bottom of that window. These tabs, once pulled out, act as a window stopper.

The Health Department still has a limited supply of FREE child safety window guards. One FREE guard per family! Window guards can be picked up at the Health Department at 341 Pine Street. Please call 978-970-4010 ext 9-4304 to schedule a pick-up.
Window guard can also be picked up at the Wish Project, 1A Foundry Street, Lowell. Hours of operation are Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday 9AM to 12Noon or Saturday 11AM to 2PM. Window wedges can be purchased on-line at http://www.windowwedge.com/ Additional window guards can be purchased on-line at http://www.angelguards.com/
The Health Department has partnered with Trinity EMS, Lowell General Hospital, Saints Medical Center, and the Lowell Housing Authority to start up this campaign. Since the start up, public service announcements have been created and are played at the Lowell Cinema before each movie. This year there has been several outreach events at WIC and the Lowell Spinners. South Bay Early Intervention is working closely with their clients to determine if there is a need and then assist those clients to get a FREE window guard and help install it. Vouchers for FREE window guards will be given out from both hospital Emergency Rooms as well as Lowell Community Health Center if a family is identified as having the need. WISH project stores the window safety guards and distributes them to families in need.
Health Department staff will promote child window safety on WCAP on Friday morning, August 8th at 8:20 AM. For more information call the Lowell Health Department at 978-970-4010 Ext. (9) 4304 or visit our website at http://www.lowellma.gov/depts/health/community-health/kid-s-can-t-fly