GALLATIN — First responders had some scary moments Sunday afternoon after a child fell from a window to the ground in Gallatin, Aaron Hicks, public information officer for state police Troop K, said Monday.
At about noon, Columbia County 911 sent Northern Dutchess Paramedics and state police to a home on Green Acres Road after receiving a report that a 20-month-old boy had fallen 25 feet.
The child was watching his father mow the lawn, Hicks said. The boy waved, pushed through the window screen and then fell, Hicks said.
Paramedics arrived at the home and requested a Life Net helicopter.
The boy was taken to the Livingston Firehouse on Route 9, where firefighters had established a landing zone.
Crews patiently waited more than an hour before Life Net took off for Albany Medical Center.
The child’s injures were not life-threatening, Hicks said.
Research shows that approximately 5,000 children in the United States fall out windows, including screened windows, every year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Children are more likely to die or be severely injured from window-related falls than any other kinds of product-related falls.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that parents use window guards and safety netting to help prevent falls from windows, balconies, decks and landings, check safety devices frequently to make sure they are secure and properly installed and maintained, limit window openings to 4 inches or less including the space between the window guard bars.
If you have window guards, be sure at least one window in each room can be easily used for escape in a fire. Window screens are not effective for preventing children from falling out of windows.