Experts Say Children Might Try To Climb On Furniture
MADISON, Wis. — The Madison-area Safe Kids Coalition is working to educate families about the danger of furniture that can tip over.
Safety experts said that falling furniture can pose a risk in many homes where tall dressers and entertainment centers look like climbing walls to small children. But it can prove deadly if a TV or a heavy piece of furniture isn’t tethered to the wall and falls on a child.
Falling furniture injures 8,000-10,000 children every year, WISC-TV reported.
One Madison-area family attended a news briefing Thursday to try to help other families avoid the heartbreak they have endured.
“She opened up the bottom drawer of the dresser to change the channel on the TV … and something like (a tether) would have prevented it. It wasn’t a tall dresser, either. It was only 2 and a half feet tall. A lot of people don’t realize that,” said Andrea Schneider, whose daughter was killed by falling furniture last Christmas.
Experts said if people can’t secure furniture to the wall, they should consider taking wheels off TV and microwave carts and store heavier items on lower shelves and bottom drawers.
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