Toppled TVs can cause serious harm to young children, neurosurgeon warns

The growing popularity of ever larger and thinner TV sets means they are more likely to topple if disturbed by toddlers. These injuries, which can be severe and sometimes fatal in small children, are often unwitnessed by adult caregivers, indicating a lack of awareness of the dangers posed to toddlers by TV sets that are not securely mounted. The study found that 95 percent of Canadian households own at least one television and that many aren’t properly secured to a wall or a sturdy base, which leaves them susceptible to toppling. Because toddlers are shorter than most TV stands, the child’s head is often the first object that the TV hits when it falls.

Additionally, Cusimano recommends that “clinicians take a more active role as advocates for prevention of these injuries, legislators become more open to implementing changes to current regulations, and caregivers employ the suggested prevention strategies at home”.

“TVs are often placed on unstable bases, placed on high furniture like dressers, which are not designed for TVs, or not properly secured to the wall”, Dr Cusimano added.

Researchers in Toronto discovered that while these TV falling warnings aren’t new, the amount of injuries from toppling TVs remains high. “Avoiding placing toys or remotes on top of TVs and place TVs away from the edge of a stand. Manufacturers must produce shorter, more stable TV stands”, the authors noted.

The paper looked at 29 studies from seven countries analyzing TV-related head and neck injuries. As more and more flat screen televisions are manufactured, the injury rate will continue to rise unless proactive measures are taken. “And in fact, most of the injuries are to the head”.

Injuries from falling televisions are not uncommon – in 2010, there were 20,000 emergency room visits for injuries related to falling TVs in the United States, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Isabelle Burwell-Keck’s family said the six-year-old was reaching for a few clothes in a dresser when a tube or box TV toppled over and fell on her. Isabelle was rushed to hospital, where she later died of her injuries.

Establish regulations for anchoring TVs to the ground or wall.

A 2005 study led by pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. James Drake at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto showed 18 children, aged 12 months to 10 years old, had been treated for a range of injuries due to falling TVs between 1992 and 2005.

They focused on three factors: the child injured, the TV set itself and the environment in which the injury occurred.