Danger Of Large Televisions

[Feralpeg]

Today, there was a toddler killed in the Orlando area when a 40 inch television fell on him. It was sitting on a two drawer dresser. The little boy apparently tried to crawl up on it and it fell on him. His sister was with him, but there was nothing that could be done.

This is the third such case I've heard recently. Many televisions are so huge and heavy. Before I moved, I had a 36 inch television that my sister and I together could not lift off the floor to place on a stand. These items and other large pieces of furniture are so dangerous. There are special straps made to attach the back of televisions and other large pieces that secure them to walls. If you have little ones, please consider checking into this. I really don't want to hear of another child dying in this manner.

 

[robertsmom]

This is exactly why I didn't allow a TV in my son's room until he turned 9. I knew his mountain goat like ways. What a horrible thing to happen.

 

[AC7179]

We have a big tv like that on a tv stand in our living room.........that's kind of scary. Thanks for the info.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

And that's why my 36 inch screen tv is strapped to the tv stand it came with. Sony sent the strap with it, I was like what the-----??? However having picked that dang thing up feeling how top heavy it is, I understood the purpose.

 

[MoniqueU]

When my girls were about 3 and 4 they pulled over their nineteen inch tv and a dresser on them. Scariest thing. They were not hurt thank goodness, but they never did that again. I still worry about earthquakes here in So Cal though.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

LCDs and Plasmas will help, but a lot of people have CRT tv's that are not properly secured. So sad and scary. When we bought the HDTV for the living room it took DH, me and DS to get it on the TV stand. I got hit in the head in the process and let me tell you how much it hurt (and I got a nice bump). Believe me after that I made sure that sucker was not moving.

We bought an LCD for the bedroom and I was able to lift it myself. BIG DIFFERENCE.

 

[GEM]

Thanks for the reminder, Peggy. I actually sent my DH out earlier today to get some more furniture tie straps after I read online about the incident you are talking about. The TV in the living room is secured, but the one our bedroom isn't. It will be by tomorrow, though.

 

[4cruisin]

Dh won a 42" plasma last year and although we do not have any little ones in our house, we still secured it to the stand with the straps that came with the t.v. I don't understand why all mfg don't include them with the larger t.v.s?

Most kids go through a climbing phase. My nephew climbed on a chest of draws when he was little and tipped it over. Thank God he was ok but it could have had tragic results.

 

[froglady]

Climbing incidents are so tragic. I remember when I was about 10, one of our neighbor's twin sons brought a chest on drawers down while climbing it and was crushed to death. When I set up my children's rooms, I made sure that the bureaus were 1.low 2.secured.

DD pulled the TV down on herself trying to reach a box of crackers that DM had put on top of it. I was so frightened when I lifted the TV; I know that sometimes when the compression is released, internal bleeding can begin. The hospital is less than a mile, so we transported her (not the best decision, in hindsight, but I was only thinking about speed rather than safety...I knew we could be IN the ER before paramedics could arrive, as the station was further away than the hospital); I was NEVER rushed into an exam room so quickly!

She was fine, and she has been regaling people with her "Chicken in a Biskit" story for years, but the ending could have been tragic.

 

[cardaway]

It's also important people understand what kind of TV's are being talked about (old CRT TV's) and that it's the people themselves that make them dangerous by puting them on TV stands that weigh less than the TV.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

It's also important people understand what kind of TV's are being talked about (old CRT TV's) and that it's the people themselves that make them dangerous by puting them on TV stands that weigh less than the TV.

Very true. Our stand was made for the weight of our TV.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

My parent's TV fell on my daughter when she was 2. Luckily, she only injured her hand. It was a bad injury that she still has a scar from (this happened 3 years ago), but it could have been much, much worse. It's something most people don't think about.

 

[cardaway]

Very true. Our stand was made for the weight of our TV.

I hope people realizing this understand that puting a strap on a TV that is on an improper stand will do nothing. TV's that are on cheap TV stands, or sadly on something not even designed to hold a TV, are a danger no matter what is holding the TV in the back. All that means is the thing could still tip and the child will become part of the tipped, strapped, mess.

 

[Cindy B]

The LCD or flat screen TV prevent some of this. We went from a 200 lb CRT TV (on a proper stand) to a flat screen LCD that only weighs 60 lbs.

Putting a strap on a TV stand that does not comply is a big problem.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I hope people realizing this understand that puting a strap on a TV that is on an improper stand will do nothing. TV's that are on cheap TV stands, or sadly on something not even designed to hold a TV, are a danger no matter what is holding the TV in the back. All that means is the thing could still tip and the child will become part of the tipped, strapped, mess.

Such as a 40-inch TV on a dresser.

 

[Sosai X]

I thought this was going to be a thread about how large TVs give you brain cancer ...

good advice herein, tho ...

 

[taximomfor4]

This is one of those accidents that I have always been worried about. We always keep our TV on an appropriate-sized TV stand, the lower the better. But I tell you what, I still worry. Oh, we also get low tv stands. Our TVs are heavy!