Calgary Police examine a window screen from a fifth floor window where a small child fell from about 930am in Calgary, AB April 1, 2012.
Credits: JIM WELLS/QMI AGENCY
Stuart Brideaux, EMS spokesman, said the condition of the toddler who tumbled out an open window after a screen gave way Sunday remains unchanged.
"I believe the child is still serious," he said. "I don't believe the condition is life-threatening anymore, but I'm not sure if the baby is out of the woods."
The toddler fell from the six-storey apartment building at about 9:30 a.m. and rushed to Foothills hospital.
Incidents of children falling through screened windows in Calgary and area are more common in the summer months, Brideaux said, adding paramedics are called to as many as 10 calls during the summer, but one in April is a bit early.
"Any window with or without a screen is a hazard 12 months of the year if it's open and can be accessed by a child," he said.
"It's not something that we measure too closely, but it tends to happen several times in the summer."
Brideaux said in 2005 there was a spike of falls -- 15 to 18 -- but those numbers have not been seen recently.
"The biggest thing that we reiterate all the time is prevention," he said.
If a child is in a room where there is an accessible open window, they need to be directly supervised, Brideaux said.
"If you can't do that, you simply have to remove access to an open window by removing anything that a child can climb on to get to the window, like a dresser, a bed, a change table," he said.
He added it's also advisable to attach commercially available devices that will limit how wide a window can open to allow fresh air in but keep a child from falling.



