Children’s Hospital Colorado warns parents about the dangers of open, unattended windows

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Children's Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs is warning parents about the dangers of open windows. According to hospital officials, they see the majority of patients severely injured from falling out of a window between May and October. That's between 60 and 100 percent of the patients.

The hospital says these are the months that windows are open because some houses don't have air conditioning or the weather is nice enough to open the window.

Nationally, roughly 4,000 kids ages ten and younger fall out of windows and are treated in emergency rooms each year. At Children's Colorado, 75 percent of the patients that come in are five and younger.

 Some of the most common injuries at Children's Hospital are head trauma like concussion and fractures to the face, head, arms, and legs.

"Head trauma can have physical implications as well as mental, and they can be long-lasting even if the child is very young when it happens, the outcome can be quite severe," said Amanda Abramczyk-Thill, the injury prevention coordinator at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Children's Hospital Colorado also emphasizes that a screen on a window isn't a safeguard. They shared with KRDO some of the things people can do to prevent falls:

• Install window guards or locks
• Make sure windows aren't open more than four inches horizontally or vertically
• If you have infants, make sure furniture isn't close to a window
• Supervise when kids are playing near windows, balconies, or patio doors