Posted on 07/21/2013 9:32:39 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Falling televisions sent nearly 200,000 U.S. children to the emergency room over 20 years and the injury rate has climbed substantially for these sometimes deadly accidents, a study found.
Doctors and safety experts say better awareness is needed about the dangers—especially the risks of putting heavier, older model TV sets on top of dressers and other furniture young children may try to climb on.
Most injuries are in kids under 5; head and neck injuries including concussions are the most common.
“This is a problem that is increasing at an alarming rate,” said lead author Dr. Gary Smith, a pediatric emergency specialist and president of the Child Injury Prevention Alliance in Columbus, Ohio.
Smith said it is unclear from the data what type of TV sets are involved in the accidents or whether older, heavier models are the most common culprit. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
‘Alarming’ rise in cats not injured at all by falling off TVs
Beat me to it. What's the worry with the new tvs?
Raising hand for still having those old heavy ones. I don't waste money so will continue watching them until they no longer work. It's not like they change the show on new ones.
If you happen to be using the older TVs, just keep your kinds away from them ... like on the sofa, not down in front of the set. (and not everyone can afford nor want the newer “light as a feather” TVs). Just a common sense response to the obvious.
I’ve still got an older set....but I’m pretty certain I’m the last holdout.
Look for the next cash-for-clunkers program to help Obamugabe’s pals who sell TVs.
Ban TVs. If it save one child’s life, it will be worth it!
Congress must act!!!!
Mandate all televisions be bolted to “something”, what “something” can be decided in conference, we must pass it before we know what is in it!!!
This is the most urgent issue of our day because it is for the children. If one child is saved it will be worth it....
LOL! Amen!
Nope.
We have on of the old, cathode-ray tube types. Why?
Because it has an internal VHS player and a DVD player as well. We have oodles of children’s VHS tapes; and as for DVDs we have oodles of those, too.
I know, I know: the built-in DVD players tend to fail. But they are so convenient and ours hasn’t failed — yet!
“Newer TVs are light as a feather. You can hang them on the wall, high enough that a child can never reach it to climb on. How many people are still using older, heavier sets?”
While the old cathode tube sets are indeed much heavier than the newer flat screens they also have a much larger (deeper) footprint. So, I’m guessing that while the cathode sets would cause greater injury if one should fall on someone, its also more difficult for a child to tip or pull one over on themselves. Thereby, the incident rate is probably considerably less for cathodes than flat screens which if not wall mounted sit on a very narrow pedestal that can be tipped by the mere push of a couple of fingers. Just my two bits :)
We have a newer flat screen, but Mr S has our old, heavy one in his mancave. We’re too cheap to toss a tv that works. Of course, there’s no grandkids - yet. (Fingers crossed!)
Even looters after sporting events and trials can’t complain about the weight of modern TVs.
When I bought my new Sony Bravia XBR929 it came with a safety strap that you could use to affix the top of the set to the wall if you were setting it on a table vice mounting on the wall. Simple solution if people are worried about it.
My son was on the TV yesterday.... I told him get off before he falls and hurts himself...
“We’re too cheap to toss a tv that works”
And it will probably work for many more years. One of my biggest gripes with the flat screens is that consumers seem to readily accept the notion that they only last around 5 years.
I’m going to avoid jumping into that pool for as long as I can. I recently threw out one that I bought in 1992, after it finally broke. And my step son occassionally gets paid to clean out houses where the renters have skipped town...so I’ve got a closet of ancient, yet functional, television sets from him.
Yep. We’re a very throwaway society. My favorite kitchen appliances and gadgets are old things that I picked up at garage sales and auctions. They stand the test of time. I just made zucchini relish using an ancient food processor that I got at an auction about 20 years ago - and it was old then. I have a new one, but it’s just not the same quality.
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