Jordan Gonzalez was lucky to have a soft landing when he fell from a second-story window this week. (York Daily Record photo.)

 Jordan Gonzalez is one of the luckiest 1-year-old boys in the world.

The York, Pa., infant was apparently unhurt when he fell Tuesday from his second-story bedroom window, according to news reports here and here.

Little Jordan bounced twice on an awning before landing in mulch. His mother, who had just opened a window 6 to 8 inches to cool off her sweaty son, watched in horror as her baby slipped away out the window. She ran downstairs in a panic but found a smiling Jordan sitting in mulch.

Many children who fall out windows on hot summer days don’t have Jordan’s luck. They break bones, suffer head injuries, or die. It happens when parents think their toddlers and infants are sleeping, and it happens, as in this case, when one or both parents are right there.

It only takes a matter of seconds.

It’s summer, so windows are open all over Elmira, Corning and the Twin Tiers. Most have screens, some have fans and air-conditioners, but all bear watching when you have young children in the house. It seems like every spring and summer, we get stories about children injured or killed when they tumble out of windows at home or grandma’s house.

The National Safety Council has some guidelines to help prevent window-related injuries in homes and apartments:

• Keep windows closed and locked when children are around.
• When opening windows for ventilation, open windows that children cannot reach.
• Don’t rely on insect screens to prevent a fall, as they are designed to provide ventilation and not to prevent a child’s fall from a window.
• Keep furniture, or anything children can climb, away from windows.
• Determine your family’s emergency escape plan and practice it regularly.
• Make sure nothing is blocking or preventing a window from being opened in the case of an emergency.

The National Safety Council has more information, including a checklist and more safety tips, to help families.

Legacy Health, in the Portland-Vancouver area, has some great resources on window safety as well, including worksheets that can help you make your windows safer.

Thanks for reading, and please check your windows today!

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ZiffLaw Attorney, Esq.
NY and PA Injury and Accident Attorney
The Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: info@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com