Injuries to Children in Elevators and Escalators
Previously, I have written about safety hazards in elevators and escalators when it comes to the elderly. Another vulnerable group when it comes to elevator and escalator incidents is children. Every year, thousands of children go to the hospital for injuries that occurred in elevators or on escalators. On this page, I will discuss these injuries in greater detail. I will also talk about a few injury prevention strategies that you can implement in order to keep your children safe.
Common Injuries and Causes of Injuries
Many children are too young to properly use elevators and escalators. Children under the age of five oftentimes lack the strength, coordination, and balance to safely use an escalator or an elevator. They face the same issues that many elderly people face, especially when it comes to a lack of coordination and balance in a moving car, or getting on and off of an escalator or in and out of an elevator.
Another significant issue is that many children might see other people using escalators or elevators inappropriately and try to mimic this behavior. For example, they might see other people standing in elevator doors as they are closing, seeing people run in and out of an elevator, or jumping in an elevator. They might see people running on escalators, trying to walk up an escalator going down and vice versa, or see people sliding on the handrails.
These are all dangerous behaviors, but children may be tempted to copy these movements. In doing so, they could slip and fall, bruise themselves, scrape body parts, or even break body parts.
Preventing Injuries
The best way to prevent injuries such as the ones mentioned above is to make sure that your children are properly supervised when they use an elevator or escalator. Make sure they are taught the correct way to use these devices and warn them against improper use. It is especially important to watch your children when they are entering or exiting an elevator or escalator. Many injuries occur at these times. Set a good example for your child and avoid any potentially dangerous movements on or near these devices. You can even hold your children if you think they are not ready to use an elevator or escalator on their own.
Many of the injuries mentioned on this page are avoidable, but what about injuries that cannot be avoided? What about injuries that result from faulty equipment or improper maintenance? These injuries are not your fault and are not your child’s fault. Instead, they are likely the fault of the maintenance team, the owner, or the manufacturer of these devices.
If your child was injured in one of these situations, please contact my office. We can review your family’s situation and determine if your family has a personal injury case. Making a claim can hold the at fault party responsible. This could result in compensation being awarded to your family for the damages that you have sustained. If you would like to explore this option further, please contact my office at 203-208-3445. We are happy to help.