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Posted on Saturday, March 14th, 2009

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Charlie’s Safe Haven Appears on NBC Action News!

Posted on Saturday, March 14th, 2009

Today, announcing our newsletter and Boutique Crawl, Charlie’s Safe Haven was featured on NBC Action News. To find out more about the story click on http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content/morningnewsteam/parents/default.aspx

NBC Action News also has a new section on its web site called Today’s Parent, which focuses on information parents should know, such as recalls, new products, tips and more. Christa Dubill oversees this section on the website and is passionate about making sure parents have access to all the parenting information coming into the newsroom. She is also an active member of the Charlie’s Safe Haven board.

Our first newsletter is available!

Posted on Friday, March 13th, 2009

This week we distributed our first Charlie’s Safe Haven newsletter, which tells more about or organization, what we’ve been up to over the past year and our upcoming first fundraiser - a Boutique Crawl on Sat, April 25 from 10am to 3pm. If you didn’t receive the newsletter, click on charlies-safe-haven-newsletter. You can also email us at info@safetyspot.org and ask to be put our future mailings. Last, if you’re interested in supporting us and coming to the Boutique Crawl, you can purchase tickets at http://www.shopinstyletours.com/boutique_crawl

More deaths and accidents by tip-prone furniture

Posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Just thought I’d share some more stories that have appeared in the news over the past year about children being hurt or by falling furniture from around the US. This by no means includes all the news stories or children that have been injured. Please take the time to purchase and install furniture safety straps!

1) Police rule 3-year-old’s death an accident

Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle - Dec. 7, 2008

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6152482.html

 

Homicide detectives on Sunday investigated the death of a 3-year-old who was killed after a TV fell on the child.

 

Investigators went to a home in the 6000 block of Reims in West Houston, but officials said the death was reported as accidental.

 

In 2006, Memorial Hermann doctors and other health officials said that infant deaths because of tipped TVs had become “a public health issue.”

 

That year, Memorial Hermann Hospital alone treated at least 11 children injured by falling TVs, six of whom died, including a 3-year-old who was crushed after she tried to adjust the TV set.

 

 

2) Boy, 23 months, killed when dresser falls

Corey Halpin’s parents said he was a ‘loving’ child.

By TED CZECH

Daily Record/Sunday News

 

Article Launched: 04/03/2008

 

Corey Halpin, who died Monday in an accident at his Dover Township home, loved wearing hats so he would always be ready if someone was going outside, his mother said.

 

The thing Gail Halpin will miss most about her young son Corey is the way he would lie next to her in bed early in the morning, kissing her and saying, “Mommy, Mommy.” 

 

Corey Halpin, just two weeks shy of his second birthday, died Monday at his home in Dover Township in what his mother called a “tragic accident.”  Gail Halpin said her son was playing inside a dresser drawer in his room when the dresser fell over

.

While reminiscing Tuesday about what she loved about her son, Gail Halpin also said she saw his death as a way to warn others about the dangers of unsecured furniture.  “If my dresser had been secured to the wall, he wouldn’t have died,” she said. “If his death can help save other little children, then that’s something good.”

 

Gail, 31, and husband Jim, 35, described Corey as “loving,” always wanting to be kissed and hugged.  Corey spread that love to all of his family members, they said.  Sister Annagale, 8, would swing Corey around on her back.  Corey and brother Kaden, 3, would move his bed next to Corey’s crib so they could be as close together as possible while they slept.

 

With his father, Corey would imagine he was on a roller coaster, hopping, twisting and turning on his dad.

  

He loved to play peek-a-boo. He also wanted his sandals and “Gilligan’s Island”-style hat on at all times because if he thought anyone was going outside, he wanted to go, too, Gail Halpin said.

 

Gail Halpin said that, about 6:30 p.m. Monday, she was at her Equestrian Drive home in Dover Township and had just put Corey and Kaden to bed. But the boys stayed up playing, she said.  Gail Halpin was in another part of the house when Kaden came to her and said, “Mommy, Corey’s stuck.”

 

She went right away and found Corey in the bottom drawer of a dresser. He was not moving.

She pulled him out, carried him into her kitchen and called 911.  Gail Halpin believes Corey’s weight in the bottom drawer caused the dresser to tip over and that, when it did, it closed on his neck.

 

She said that, as a tribute to Corey, she plans to dedicate herself to keeping other children safe. A group of her online friends plans to start a Web site where they will offer straps to anchor furniture to walls to prevent them from falling, she said.

 

3) Chest falls, kills Massillon 18-month-old girl      

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

 

MASSILLON An 18-month-old girl died Saturday after a chest of drawers fell on her at her home on Second Street NE, according to a report with the Stark County Coroner’s office.

 

The victim, Madelyne Loch, was pronounced dead Saturday morning at Affinity Medical Center in Massillon.

 

The death was still being investigated by the coroner’s staff Monday, but officials said they believe the child suffocated under the weight of the furniture.

 

“It looks like she pulled a small chest of drawers,” said Harry Campbell, chief investigator on the coroner’s staff. “Something compressed her chest so she could not inhale. We don’t have anything definite yet. I don’t believe there was any type of head injury.”

 

The toddler was discovered by one of her parents, who are identified in the coroner’s report as Lindsay Loch and William Dunger.

 

County and city investigators are reviewing the matter.

 

Saturday, March 15, 2008

 

4) Macy Rae Reed (5 years old) - Killed by a falling TV in Idaho Falls, Idaho

Cedar Hill toddler hurt when TV topples

11:56 AM CDT on Monday, March 17, 2008

By ERIN EIDENSHINK / The Dallas Morning News

 

A two-and-a-half- year-old girl was severely injured Sunday afternoon when a television fell off its stand and struck her upper body and head, the Cedar Hill Fire Department said.

 

The child was alone in a bedroom when the incident occurred about 12:45 p.m. in the 300 block of Taurus Drive, police said. Officers were told she was unconscious and bleeding from the mouth and the nose.

 

Paramedics transported her by Careflite to Children’s Medical Center Dallas where treatment was begun for a fractured skull and swelling to the brain.

 

The child’s father and four brothers were home at the time of the accident. It is unknown why the TV fell on the girl.

 

In September, a seven-year-old Plano girl died after a large television set fell on her.

 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission last year listed tipping furniture as one of the top five hidden home hazards. The commission said there were 31 deaths in 2006 related to tipping furniture, including televisions and ranges. The commission estimated that 2,600 children younger than 5 were treated in emergency rooms for tipping-television injuries in 2005.

 

In the UT Southwestern study, researchers looked at 26 cases handled by the emergency department of Children’s Medical Center Dallas between November 2003 and October 2004. The children injured by the falling TVs ranged in age from 1 to 7 years old. None of the injuries were fatal.

 

The findings included:

• Nine children were hospitalized, including two in the intensive care unit. Fourteen suffered head injuries, and nine injured an arm or leg. More than one-third of the cases were admitted to the hospital for stays ranging from one to four days.

• Televisions with 20- to 30-inch screens made up two-thirds of the cases; TVs 19 inches and smaller made up less than a fifth of the cases; screens between 30 and 40 inches made up the balance.

• Most of the TVs - 85 percent - were placed between 2 feet and 5 feet off the floor.

• Three out of four parents questioned by researchers said the accident occurred because a child was climbing on the set. The rest said the TV was knocked over by another person.

“Parents should place TVs on furniture that is appropriate for the size of the TV,” the CPSC has said.

Parents should also avoid placing items on TVs, such as toys, that would encourage a child to climb on the TV, she said. TV stands with drawers should also be avoided because the drawers could act as steps for a child to climb.