You may not look at a television in your home and consider it dangerous, but, more than 17,000 children are treated in emergency rooms across the country each year for a TV-related injury.

Television
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A new study from the Child Injury Prevention Alliance found that the rate of such injuries has increased by more than 95 percent.

"Every 45 minutes in this country, a child is rushed to the hospital for an injury related to a TV tip-over and one child every three weeks in this country dies from a TV tip-over injury," said Dr. Gary Smith, President of the Child Injury Prevention Alliance.

Why are TV tip-over injuries happening at such an alarming rate?

"We have more TVs in the home these days, so there's more of an opportunity for children to be injured from them falling over," said Dr. Smith. "Also, as families purchase new TVs, older TVs often get moved to other parts of the home and may be placed on furniture that is less safe, on top of dressers, chests of drawers or armoires. Those types of furniture were never designed to support a TV and are more prone to tipping over."

TV tip-over injuries are 100 percent preventable.

"Every TV in the home should be attached to the wall. That is the only safe way to install a TV to prevent tip-over injuries to children. We wouldn't go out an buy a car without seat-belts. We should think of TVs the same way. They should come with their own safety restraints and attached to the wall," said Dr. Smith.

"If they are placed on furniture and are not wall mounted. Then, that furniture that they're standing on should also be attached to the wall to prevent tip-overs."

"TV tip-over injuries to small children can be devastating. These children are low to the ground, they don't recognize danger when the TV starts to topple and they can't get out of the way. They often have injuries to the head and neck and some of these injuries are traumatic," said Dr. Smith.

More prevention tips are available on this website.

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