Rise seen in injuries to kids caused by falling televisions

Associated Press

CHICAGO

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.

The study was published online today in the journal Pediatrics.

In 2011, 12,300 children nationwide got ER treatment for TV-related injuries, compared with 5,455 in 1990. The injury rate nearly doubled, from 0.85 injuries per 10,000 children age 17 and younger in 1990 to 1.66 per 10,000 in 2011, the study found.