A big applaud to CPSC for their letter on safety to the Department of Defense warning military housing partners of the dangers of corded window coverings.

http://www.acq.osd.mil/ie/download/DoD-CPSC%20Home%20Child%20Safety%20-%20Apr%2029%202013.pdf

CPSC has record of at least 10 or more deaths and injuries over the past few decades on military housing facilities and rented homes.  PFWBS wrote letters along with families who had lost their children asking for something to be done on military bases.  Articles were written about our concern with military housing authorities unsafe environments for our soldiers. http://news.consumerreports.org/safety/2010/12/safety-crusader-linda-kaiser-fights-to-prevent-window-blind-strangulation.html

Typically soldiers who live on post are not allowed to modify their blinds or they face fines.  They  must keep a uniform appearance in housing which means they can’t remove their hazardous blinds.  See this link below as to how blinds are to be kept and cleaned for inspections.

http://www.auroramilitaryhousing.com/document/30-day-notice-packet

Brandyn lost his life Sept 11 2009.

Lost his life when a tension device broke leaving a long cord loop exposed. Mom and Dad are still unsure how the device broke. They believe Brandyn broke it and then died on the loop. Brandyn loved wrestling and was very active.

Connor lost his life in 2005 on an AirForce Base.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailypress/obituary.aspx?n=Connor-Corcoran&pid=14594808#fbLoggedOut

Ashley will never walk, talk or play like she used to.

Ashley will need 24 hour care for the rest of her life.

We at Parents for Window Blind Safety would like to see the Department of Defense NOT ONLY “WARN” parents of the dangers but REMOVE the dangerous window coverings from base housing and rental homes.  No parent can keep an eye on their children every hour of every day.  We sleep, we cook, we use the restroom, we bathe.  Please help us keep our soldiers homes safe by sharing this post and contacting your local military post asking for dangerous window coverings to be removed.

This past week I went on vacation to the lake.  We rented a nice cabin that had deadly cords all over the place.

Deadly inner cord on a roll up shade

I have a 16 month old little girl who is in to EVERYTHING!

Lil Stink…who is in to everything!

So of course I couldn’t even begin to relax until I figured out a way to make these window coverings safe before I did anything else.  I ran to Walmart and bought some cloth spins.

Temporarily childproofing corded roll up shade.

I went around to each window and used cloths pins to pin up the cords out of my little girls reach.  I created a very short video on how to get the cords out of your child’s reach temporarily.  This worked for Roman shades and for corded roll up shades.  This could also work for corded horizontal blinds, however if those blinds don’t include inner cord stoppers, you still have a problem.

Below is the short video I recorded so you can learn to really relax on your vacation with your children.

See this video to understand what inner cord stoppers are and how they don’t always work.

Hopefully after seeing this video, you will be able to RELAX with your kiddos on vacation.  Just don’t forget the cloths pins.  Also, if you ever have any questions about safety, feel free to email us at info (AT) pfwbs.org

Yesterday I was online surfing the web for some girls nursery ideas to help me plan for my daughters nursery.  After viewing countless images I came across the pictures below.  Most of these were designed professionally.

Celebrity Baby Nursery although there are cleats, there are still dangerous inner cords behind the roman shade that could strangle a child. Also, did you know crib bumpers have suffocated infants?  Some states are pushing for bans on these bumpers.  Every one of these rooms has them.

Another Celebrity Nursery. Do you see what I see? Not only is there a dangerous cord, but only THIN blankets should be used, not thick oversized blankets.  Yes, it looks cute but its a No No!

Another professionally designed nursery

Can you see the cord on the right side?

How many hazards can you count?

I don’t believe this was a professional job however it show the lack of education by the parents.

This is a window covering designed by a professional I pulled from the designers website.

Another set of professionally made window valances taken from a professional website.

Okay, so you get my point?  Not only should we be educating parents, but also there are a lot of designers and professionals that are just as oblivious to the dangers of window covering cords.  We at PFWBS would be more than happy to help educate by attending online seminars, giving safety talks, or helping your company educate it’s employees.  If you are interested, please contact us at info@pfwbs.org

If you know a designer or window covering professional, please pass this blog post along to them.

Have a great holiday and keep yourself cool!

Linda Kaiser
Founder of PFWBS

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