Gitte Laasby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel –
A 4-year-old girl was killed Sunday when a television fell on her, the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office said Monday.
The accident happened around 11 a.m. on Milwaukee’s south side. Yariam Ramos was playing at home with other kids when she attempted to climb a clothes dresser to change the channel on an analog 32-inch TV, according to a report by the medical examiner’s office released Monday. The TV came off the dresser and struck her, knocking her unconscious.
She was taken to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, where she died during surgery.
Between 2000 and 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reviewed reports of 245 tipover-related deaths involving children 8 years and younger. More than 90% of the incidents involved children 5 years and younger.
According to the commission, more than 22,000 children 8 years or younger were treated in hospital emergency rooms each year from 2008 to 2010 for injuries related to instability or tip-over of televisions, furniture and appliances. About 70% of children’s fatalities involved falling televisions. Of the 135 child fatalities where furniture fell by itself or fell with a TV, 64% involved a chest, dresser or bureau.
The commission recommends placing TVs on sturdy, low bases or anchoring the furniture and TV on top of it and pushing it back on the furniture as far as possible. Most flat-screen TVs come with anchors.
