Dangerous products usually are recalled after, not before, someone is seriously injured or killed. Often it takes several lawsuits before before a company or companies are willing to take action. So the string of injuries, deaths and at least one injury lawsuit (ABC News, Salt Lake City) caused by two kinds of window coverings, eventually leading to their recall (AP, via Chicago Tribune), follows that familiar pattern.
Parents also can thank the seven-year struggle of Elgin mother Linda Kaiser (Tribune), who led a nationwide outreach effort that included lobbying the federal government for a recall after her one-year-old daughter was killed in one of the now-recalled products.
The risk? Strangulation of children who get caught between the cords and the fabric of Roman-style shades and roll-up blinds.
The following AP news report shows what they look like:
Anyone with kids knows that just about everything in the house can be dangerous, but Roman-style shades have been blamed for five deaths and 16 near-strangulations in the past three years, while three deaths related to roll-up blinds have been reported in the past eight years. Not a huge percentage of the more than 50 million units being recalled, but enough.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced the recall last week (CPSC), advises parents and caregivers whose homes have the affected products to contact the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) immediately for free retrofit kits. CPSC and WCSC urges parents to consider the following guidelines with respect to all window coverings:
- Examine all shades and blinds in the home. Make sure there are no accessible cords on the front, side, or back of the product. CPSC and the WCSC recommend the use of cordless window coverings in all homes where children live or visit.
- Do not place cribs, beds, and furniture close to the windows because children can climb on them and gain access to the cords.
- Make loose cords inaccessible.
- If the window shade has looped bead chains or nylon cords, install tension devices to keep the cord taut.
Contact an Illinois injury attorney immediately if your child has been injured by one of the recalled products.
- Childproofing Your Home: 12 Safety Devices to Protect Your Children (About.com)
- Kidd Safety (CPSC)
- Need a Chicago Accident Attorney? (FindLaw)
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