Hello, my name is Tom Peterson and I am the founder of Intelli-shade®. As a father, I felt it necessary to write this article and inform you of the life-threatening dangers related to window blinds. I have been in this industry for almost thirty years now and have seen very little change – with regards to industry manufacturers taking the necessary steps to remove these hazardous products from the market and out of our homes.
Since the time I have worked in this industry, 17,000 children (under the age of six) have been admitted to emergency rooms due to death or injury related to window blinds. That is two children per day.
It only takes a few minutes for a child’s life to be taken – and it is often a silent death, as the child falls into unconsciousness rather quickly. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, window blinds are one of the top five hazards that exist within any home today.
Changes have been made and just recently, new standards have been put in place – but what about the tens of thousands of corded blinds that still reside in our homes? In addition, a blind of any kind still poses a serious risk to any young child due to inherent design of the product itself. So, new standards only help to reduce the risk but not eliminate it.
I have heard, read and seen the many stories. Stories regarding the loss of a young child and the parent who didn’t even know about the risks associated with these silent killers. It saddens me to know that something more could have been done to prevent this extraordinary loss of life. A parent should never have to live with the loss of their own child, and certainly not at the hands of a product they purchased for the presumed benefit of their own well-being.
As a manufacturer in this industry, I will not produce, distribute or offer these products for sale – and I encourage other manufacturers to do the same. With a little ingenuity, interior window coverings can be produced without any cords at all. We have taken this step and will continue to take whatever steps we can to extinguish these products from the homes – where young children visit and reside.
As a parent who has experienced the loss of a young child myself, I cannot ignore this issue. As a businessman, I cannot be silent about this problem. For any parent who has lost a young child, there is no loss that is more painful and more difficult to live with. For the child who had so much to live for – but will never get to live life here on earth, we must do everything possible to help eliminate this threat.
This is an issue that can be solved but we need your help. If you or anyone you know has blinds in their home, please reach out to any of the following contacts below to see what we both can do to help.
For removal of existing blinds and installation of Intelli-shade® Child Safe window shades, please contact us.
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For Donations to help in this cause, please visit http://parentsforwindowblindsafety.org/
We all need to work together to save the lives of our children, so please join us in this endeavor.
