Falls from Windows !

 Our ambulance paramedics respond to all sorts of emergencies and often their intervention is the deciding factor between life and death.  In the majority of call outs they are accompanied by the police who exercise crowd control and investigate if any laws were broken.  This is necessary because excited bystanders sometimes intervene and delay urgent treatment.

This week an ambulance crew was called to an address in Mortdale when a caller reported that a child had fallen from a window.  On arrival, they treated a four year old boy who had suffered a fall of about eight metres, causing a head injury.  The child was immediately stabilized and taken to hospital for further examination because a fall of that nature can cause serious internal injuries.

More people now live in multi story apartment buildings and a spate of children falling from windows resulted in new window regulations being applied to prevent that happening.  All windows above ground floor level are required to have safety locks that prevent the window being opened wider than the gap through which a child would fit.

This was made necessary by the existing habit of window security relying on mesh screens designed to repell insects.  Should a child's weight press against this barrier it was prone to dislodge and after a number of falls resulting in serious injury or death the fitting of locks to restrict window opening became mandatory.

This applies to all windows, both in owner occupied apartments and in rentals and ensuring the standard was met was supposed to be shared by both the council and the estate agent when a property was offered on the rental market.  All that is required is a relatively cheap device screwed into the sliding rail to restrict the window opening to the required safety measure.

Some councils employ a strict inspection regime to ensure that this safety requirement is met but it is also evident that in some areas there is little effort to comply.  Estate agents are required to ensure that windows pass this safety test before a property is let and it should be again checked at every inspection, and once again compliance is varied.

All too often children's cots or play areas are near windows and it is in the nature of children to explore.  The presence of a fly screen gives the illusion of a safety barrier but this is easily dislodged by the weight of a child pressing against it.  This is a danger area that goes unnoticed by many parents

This recent ambulance call out should be a wake up call..  We have weeks of summer remaining and that is a time people open windows to let in a little fresh air.  If sliding locks are not in place they are also opening an area of danger for their children.

The legislation to close that danger is in place. Now what is required is the will for its compliance !