Dangers of Home Exercise Equipment - Reaction to NY Times Blogger

As many of you are probably already aware, and have probably already written articles about, Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter died this week after being choked by a treadmill cord in her own home.  Her 7-year-old brother found her while he mother was cleaning another room in the house.

I just read an article in the NY Times discussing the number of accidents that occur from home exercise equipment every year involving children.  In the article, it says that 25,000 children are sent to the emergency room every year with some sort of treadmill injury because they either touched the belt while it was moving or some other sort of accident.

After I finished reading the article, I read the blogs, as I sometimes do if the topic truly interests me.  I was quite concerned when one blogger wrote that the whole thing is an over-reaction stating that more kids that 25,000 are sent to the emergency room every year from bicycle accidents and other accidents involved just kids being kids.

I was not please when I read his comment, nor were many of the other people who blogged on this article.  The truth of the matter is, if putting safety measures in place, both when the machine is manufactured and in your own home protects 25,000 kids a year from silly accidents, then why not protect those 25,000 kids?  That is 25,000 less kids going to the emergency room every year with severe injuries!  Is this blogger saying that is it ok for 25,000 children to be injured every year by exercise equipment?  Because that is certainly what it sounds like.  Just because well more than 25,000 injure themselves every year from other sorts of accidents, does not mean that people should write off the dangers of home exercise equipment.  Even if one child is protected from injury because of a change in how the product is manufactured or new laws involved the use of home exercise equipment, then it is well worth it.

If you are a parent with small children, please keep the following things in mind with your home exercise equipment to ensure that your children stay safe:

• Always keep your equipment turned off and unplugged when not in use
• If possible, set up your home gym in a room that can be locked so that your children cannot even get inside when it is not in use
• Make house rules about the home gym
• Face your equipment towards the door of the room so you can easily see if a child is entering.  Keep your eyes open once the child has entered to make sure you can always see him/her
• If the equipment faces a wall, make sure the wall is mirrored so you can see the entire room behind you.  This will allow you to see if a child enters the room and will allow you to monitor the child while you are working out
• If possible, only plug in the equipment to workout when the child is at a playdate or at school.  This will ensure that the child won't come into the room while the equipment is turned on and in use.
• When not in use, make sure the all cords and wires are tucked away safely so if a child happens to enter a room, there is no risk of the child plugging in the machine or accidents like strangulation from the cords and wires

What do you all think?