How to prevent children from falling? Be careful even if you lock it or if there is no footing! Mar 3 at 29:20

This month, a 2-year-old twin brother died after falling from an apartment window in Nagoya.

In November last year, accidents also occurred in Chiba City, Osaka and Toyonaka City.

In response to the tragic accident, there have been a series of voices on social media saying, "Even if measures are taken, children behave in ways that cannot be expected."

Clamber on a window sill in seconds

We asked one of the people who posted on social media, a mother in her 1s who is raising a 1- and 3-year-old child, to talk to us online.

He is careful not to place anything that could be used as a scaffolding near the window on the second floor of his home, but before he knew it, his 2-year-old son grabbed the window frame with his hand and put his foot on the wall, climbing up in seconds.

If the window is open, the fence to prevent falls may be climbed over, so he locks the window on a daily basis, but he is not worried that it will open soon.

Mothers
and children in their 30s do unexpected things one after another, so even if they take measures, they are in a cat-and-mouse game and spend every day in a state of harassment. The windows on the second floor also have a locking function, but we are considering putting a third key on the upper part of the reach.

With actions that exceed the expectations of adults ...

Auxiliary locks are sold relatively cheaply for crime prevention.

It is said to be effective in preventing falls by placing it in a high position that is out of reach.

However...

"My eldest son lifted it with an umbrella,"
"I broke it with a margin at the age of two, and I piled the platform high enough for an adult to stretch out and reach."

There are many voices saying that it has been opened by actions that exceed expectations.

How should we respond to such cases?

Tatsuhiro Yamanaka, a pediatrician and president of the nonprofit organization Safe Kids Japan, points out that combining different types of keys, such as one-touch operation and PIN entry, is effective.

Safe Kids Japan President Tatsuhiro
Yamanaka There are various types of auxiliary locks, and it is important to create a device that is difficult for children to open by combining them so that they will not open without multiple movements.

Even if you eliminate what becomes a scaffold

Also, even if you don't place anything that can be used as a scaffolding, children may create scaffolding.

A mother in her 40s who lives in Tokyo said that when the twins were two years old, they witnessed them dragging a heavy chair to the window of the next room.

He lives on the 2th floor of an apartment building, and the children like to see the park from the window.

A mother
in her 40s I never thought that a small child would carry a heavy chair, but I paled at the thought that it would be possible if the two of us cooperated. I have heard that twins sometimes try to climb to higher places using one person as a stepping stone, and I feel that there is a lot of risk.

The basic measures are

According to the national summary Reiwa there were 3 fatal accidents involving children under the age of 5 due to falling from buildings in the five years up to March 9. (From the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Demographic Survey")

The government introduces basic measures on its website.

1. Attach
auxiliary locks 2. Do not place objects on the balcony 3. Do not

place objects near windows in the room 4. Regularly inspect windows, screen doors, veranda handrails, etc. for deterioration

There are three points in terms of watching over and educating children.

1. Leave your children at home alone and do not go out2. Do not let children play alone on the veranda 3. Do
not
allow them to sit on window frames or bay windows, or lean against windows or screen doors.

There is also a system to subsidize the cost of fall countermeasures.

The "Childcare Support Co-Housing Promotion Project," which can be used by people living in condominiums and other apartment complexes, subsidizes up to 100 million yen for part of the cost of attaching handrails to verandas and windows, and attaching auxiliary locks to windows.

Since the business also serves as a crime prevention measure, it is necessary to install security cameras at the same time, but if a family with children of elementary school age or younger performs construction work with the consent of the owner of the house, it can be subsidized whether it is for sale or rental.

In addition, the "Long-term Excellent Housing Remodeling Promotion Project" can also utilize detached houses. (* This is a system to apply through a remodeling company)

Although the construction work is conditional on meeting earthquake resistance standards and a certain level of energy-saving performance, part of the cost of installing handrails and auxiliary keys will be subsidized.

Ms. Yamanaka, who is working on measures against accidents involving children, points out that it is important to take measures that can be taken at home and to share cases of near-miss incidents with society as a whole.

Safe Kids JapanTatsuhiro YamanakaIf
the lessons of the tragic accident are passed on to parents, it will lead to measures taken at home, companies will develop new products, and the government will regulate the law. In order to reduce accidents in society as a whole, we believe that it is necessary for the public to have access to such information.

Sharing knowledge among society

In response to the news about the fall accident, many people on SNS posted about the countermeasures based on their own experiences.

Through the interviews, I learned once again that children behave in ways that exceed the imagination of adults.

They open it with an umbrella, and they make their own scaffolding.

By sharing specific cases, I think we need to use this as an opportunity to review measures at home, companies, and national systems.

(Metropolitan Area Bureau Saki Okabe, Network News Department, Hokuto Takasugi, SNS Research, Kimiko Miwa)