The August heat might have taken a break, but Harborview Medical Center officials say the "window-fall season" is still under way.
"It's a May to October phenomenon," said Brian Johnston, chief of pediatrics at Harborview. That's when the hospital tends to see the most cases of children falling out of windows.
Harborview deals with more than 40 children who have fallen from windows in a given year, Johnston said. He's assembling a study group to determine what circumstances factor into the majority of toddler falls.
In May, 18-month-old Chris Ruffin Jr. survived a second-story fall from an apartment near Seward Park. Honor Callandret, 2, tumbled out of a seventh-story Columbia City apartment window July 15. The toddler died that evening from injuries.
Johnston also tries to warn parents that without window safety guards, screens just provide a false sense of security -- they pop out easily when pushed, and don't prevent falls.
"They're designed to keep bugs out," he said.
While Johnston advocates window guards and parental supervision, he also believes legislation should come into play.
In 2007, Minnesota passed Laela's Law, which requires building contractors to install sturdier screens in multihousing units higher than two stories. The law was named after Laela Shaugobay, 2, who survived a four-story fall in Minneapolis after pushing on a screen.
Though states have the power to amend the code, the standard likely to be set in September in Minneapolis is the one that will be used nationally for the next three years.
Washington State Building Code Council Chairman John Neff said that unless the state decides on more legislation, the only changes next year will be the ones made in the International Building Code, which is revised every three years.
Up for discussion this year will be window safety devices and devices that limit how far a window can be opened, said Tim Nogler, managing director of the Washington State Building Code Council.
Across the nation, manufacturers are angling to tweak and refine safety standards.
The Window and Door Manufacturers Association is asking for removal of a 2006 provision that says windows more than 72 inches above the finished grade must have a sill at least 24 inches off the inside floor.
"We're afraid that that number may lead to a false sense of security," said Jeff Lowinski, the association's vice president of technology.
He said here is no concrete evidence to show that having this height requirement prevents children from falling out of windows.
But architect Jim Sealy from Texas, who helped draft the height requirement provision, argues the standard does help, because it places the window above a toddler's center of gravity.
Sealy also doesn't like that the safety-stops limiting the window opening at 4 inches are removable.
Harborview will be organize a window safety forum Oct. 23.
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