Boy Dies as Blinds Are Recalled

Nov. 2 -- A 13-month-old New Jersey boy died, apparently strangled by the cord of a window blind, on the same day federal authorities announced a recall of hundreds of millions of blinds.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Window Covering Safety Council announced the recall Wednesday, saying it was meant to repair horizontal window blinds that pose a risk of strangulation to young children.

The recall involved window blinds with pull cords and inner cords that can form a loop around a child’s neck, and have been blamed for 130 deaths since 1991.

On the same day, police in Willingboro, N.J., say the boy was found in his crib lifeless, with a cord from a nearby blind wrapped around his neck. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Keep Kids Away

The CPSC said 114 of the previous strangulations involved the outer pull cords, and 16 involved the inner cords that hold the slats of the window coverings.

The agency says parents should keep window covering cords and chains permanently out of the reach of children, and should never place a child’s crib within reach of a window blind.

Unless the cords can be completely removed from young children’s reach, including when they climb on furniture, the CPSC recommends that parents never knot or tie the cords together because this creates a new loop in which a child could become entangled.

The agency estimates as many as 85 million of the blinds are sold every year, and more than 800 million may have been sold in the period covered by the recall.

Officials said people could get a free repair kit for their blinds by calling the Window Covering Safety Council toll free at 800-506-4636. The repairs can be made in minutes without removing the blinds.