Right now, a 3-year-old boy from Hudson is in the hospital, after a TV fell on him yesterday afternoon. It's an accident that happens way more often than you may think, all across the country.
Fire officials said it was an older, tube-style 32 inch that fell. These can be 90 to 100 pounds.
"Sounds like it was a tragic accident," Pasco Fire Rescue division chief Shawn Whited said.
Whited said the TV was on a dresser, not secured in any way. He demonstrated the accident, and while it may be tough to watch, he said, every parents needs to see what could happen.
“If this thing started to tumble, and come down, he’s going to fall backward like that and then if this is going to tip this is going to tip just like this," he said. "It’s going to do some serious damage, it’s going to cause some serious trauma, which is the situation that we had yesterday.”
Whited said you need to secure your TV. You can use anchors or straps. Make sure it's on the proper piece of furniture, not on a dresser. Make sure you know what your kids are doing, not climbing on furniture.
“We want people to see exactly what can happen if a child is climbing up something and a TV of any size falls on them,” Whited said.
Fire Rescue said the boy in Hudson suffered traumatic injuries. Neighbors said he's doing okay.
This type of accident is too common. According to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission, a child goes to the emergency room with a tip-over injury every 24 minutes nationwide.
