Window Safety
“Window falls are preventable if parents are armed with the right information.”
Every year, more than 5,000 American children go to emergency rooms after falling from open windows. On average, eight of them die. Here is what parents need to know — and what the Hannah's Hope program was built to teach.
- Children in ERs annually
- 5,000+
- Fatalities per year (avg.)
- 8
- Cause: falling through a screen
- 1st
Children in ERs annually
Fatalities per year (avg.)
Cause: falling through a screen
Top Ten Window Safety Tips
From our Hannah's Hope for Window Safety program, developed in partnership with Blank Children's Hospital.
Supervise your children as they play.
Teach your children not to play near windows.
Close and lock your windows when children are around.
Only open windows that children cannot reach or are secured with compliant locks.
Keep beds, furniture, and anything a child can climb on away from windows.
Do not depend on screens to prevent falls — they are not designed for this purpose.
Repair broken windows or non-working parts as soon as possible.
Open windows from the top, not from the bottom.
Install child safety devices that comply with ASTM F2090-2008 and 2010 standards.
Never leave young children unattended near open windows.
Hannah's Hope for Window Safety
Hannah’s Hope for Window Safety is our outreach and education program, developed in collaboration with Blank Children’s Hospital. It includes a downloadable brochure with statistics, a checklist of windows at risk, the types of window safety devices available, and where to purchase them. Come by the Learning Center — a safety expert will walk you through the right device for your home.
“The store is here because of how Hannah died. But the beauty and the spirit and the motivation is here for how Hannah lived.”
Shanda Boone-Geneser · Hannah's motherEducational resources
Not sure what kind of window your home has, or which device fits it? These are the questions our safety expert answers every day at the Learning Center — free, unhurried, and hands-on. Every home is different; every solution is different. Come see us, or send a note and we’ll help you plan a visit.
More on child safety
Trusted external resources we recommend.
Safe Kids Worldwide
Injury prevention information for families.
Safe Kids of Greater Des Moines
Our local Safe Kids coalition.
Blank Children's Hospital
Home of the Learning Center & Safety Store.
American Academy of Pediatrics — TIPP
The Injury Prevention Program.
CDC — ABCs of Raising Safe and Healthy Kids
Injury prevention & control resources.
Children's Safety Network
National resource on child & adolescent injury.
Visit us
The Safety Store
Hours
- Monday
- 10:00–16:00
- Tuesday
- 10:00–16:00
- Wednesday
- 10:00–16:00
- Thursday
- 10:00–16:00
- Friday
- 10:00–12:00
- Saturday
- Closed
- Sunday
- Closed
Find us
1200 Pleasant Street
Des Moines, IA 50309
Inside Blank Children's Hospital · Iowa Methodist Campus. First floor, main hospital entrance.