I am cute.
I am cuddly.
I am going to grow. And walk. And climb. And reach for everything I see. Even when you’re near, or you look away for a second, or pass from one room to another. Or when you are in the kitchen and I’m just in the connected living room playing. Even when you’re concentrating on making dinner, or changing my sibling’s diaper. Or when the phone or doorbell rings. Or when your focus on me lapses for just a minute…
Tragedy in less than a minute
Window blind cords can form a loop around a child’s neck and strangle them. Especially because of their lower blood volume, a child’s small brain can only withstand obstructed blood flow caused by minimal compression to their carotid artery or jugular vein for seconds before losing consciousness. Brain damage begins happening immediately, and reaches a sever and irreversible level within 45 seconds of unconsciousness.
Cords are the culprit- Child-safe window treatments don’t have them
There are a lot of things we can do to mitigate the dangerousness of cords on window treatments, and at Insolroll we’ve gone farther than many in an effort to do so, moving beyond what the current safety standards dictate. But no matter what, cords can present a hazard, and all corded window treatments come with a graphic and serious warning label, shown here…
The ultimate takeaway is that cordless is best. Period. Here at Insolroll, we offer a very high quality, lovely cordless spring operator as an alternative, as well as a comprehensive line of window treatment motorization and control products for our solar shades, blackout shades and decorative shades. You can go as fancy or as simple as you like, with beautiful, functional shade operators, and never have a cord in sight. Yes, there are some size limitations for cordless manual operators today, although we have just announced an increased size range/limitation for our Quiet Spring Roller Shades that accommodates a huge portion of the the shades we sell. And every day, the possibilities increase with affordable motorization options for shades outside those size limitations.
Whose problem is this?
Clearly, this is an immediate challenge for parents of small children, and those who operate businesses that cater to them. But it goes beyond that, both philosophically and pragmatically. Even if you do not have children, you are a stakeholder in their futures, because they will be our inventors, health professionals, service people and operators of society beyond us. You may find yourself at some point in the future removing non-compliant window treatments from a home you are trying to sell, and either replacing them with compliant treatments or offering your buyer a concession. You may find yourself paying higher home insurance premiums one day if you have non-compliant window treatments to cover the associated liability issues.
We’re not there yet, but where we are every day is that we have a responsibility to future generations, and to each other, to act upon our learning. To do better, and to move forward. That’s our commitment at Insolroll.
Previous child-safety blog posts:
Corded Window Treatments and Child Safety is No Joke