The temperatures are ever so slowly warming up and with those higher readings may come the need to open your windows and let a breeze come into your home.

Stuart Brideaux, Alberta Health Services Calgary Zone EMS Education Officer is telling parents to safeguard their homes to prevent kids from falling out of windows or from balconies this summer.

Brideaux says with the return of warmer weather they see an increased risk of younger children, particularly toddlers, who may suffer a fall from a window or balcony. 

"What we encourage all parents and caregivers to do is to look at their home and assess it for any risks.  Have a look at any window in your home and decide whether or not you feel that a young child could gain access to that window by any means.:

Brideaux says that includes furniture under windows, like a child's own crib, change table or miscellaneous furniture like an end table that a child may use to access a window.  Brideaux says a child can't fall out of a window that they can't access.

Windows aren't the only risk parents should be concerned about.  Brideaux warns that children falling from balconies that are several stories off the ground have often caused serious injuries and death.

"Children are naturally inquisitive, they're natural climbers and they don't always recognize the risks to what they may be doing.  Any items that may be on a balcony, including not only patio furniture but anything that could be climbed on such as bikes that may be housed there, other barbeques, various furniture items that may be stored outside may be allowing a child to be able to access the top of that railing and potentially fall over top."

Brideaux says the incidents of falls vary from year to year but the EMS has had years where the number of falls they've responded to has climbed into the high teens or low 20's.  He says mitigating the risk of a fall from a window includes installing commercially available safety devices that can limit the amount the window can open that can work for either slide or crank windows.

"We advocate not being able to open the window anymore than four inches or 10 centimetres.  That allows plenty of fresh air in but will not allow the largest part of a child's body, that being their head, to be able to fit through.  If they could push an arm or a leg through that four-inch aperture they can't fall through the window."

He says window screens are designed to let air in and keep bugs out but should never be relied upon to keep children from falling from a window. 

Brideaux says while toddlers and pre-schoolers are at the greatest risk, falls from a window or balcony can happen at any age  Young inquisitive minds don't always understand the risks or the danger they may be putting themselves in. 

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