Falls and falling objects are one of the most prominent dangers for young children. Yet many parents do not seem to realize exactly how little it can take to kill a child. One often overlooked danger is the toy chest. Ones that aren’t built for safety can kill a child if the lid falls down onto them.

That’s exactly what happened to a three-year-old Chandler, Arizona girl. On December 1st, 2009, Chandler firefighters were summoned to a house in the 800 block of West Whitten, near Alma School and Frye roads, in response to a 911 call made about 11:40 in the morning. When they got there, they found the girl in cardiac arrest. Firefighters tried to resuscitate the child on their way to the hospital, but were unsuccessful. She died at Chandler regional Hospital.

The girl was one in a set of triplets. A crisis counseling team spent the day with the mother and father, both of whom were home at the time of the incident. “This appears to be a horribly tragic accident,” said Chandler Fire Battalion Chief Paul Nies. “The injury would be consistent with cardiac arrest based on a fractured spine.”

This is tragic, but sadly, not unheard of. In fact, there have been at least 45 such deaths in recent years, and at least 3 cases of permanent brain damage; all caused when lids of toy boxes or storage containers fell on the child’s head or neck. As a child peeks inside or leans in to retrieve something, it leaves the back of their head and neck exposed.

If something jostles the lid and it falls, it can fall with enough force to snap the child’s spinal chord, which depending on where the break is, can sever communication from the brain to vital organs. Heart and lung functioning essentially shuts down.

There are several precautions parents should take to prevent this from happening to their child. First, avoid using old World War 2 chests or other type containers that were never designed with children in mind. All toy chests should have a safety hinge, which prevents the lid from slamming shut. You can buy such hinges at a local hardware store or through our own child safety store. Parents can also simply remove the lid. More information on this topic is available in the library at www.keepyourchildsafe.org.