Dear Greg,

My name is Linda Kaiser.  I founded Parents for Window Blind Safety a non-profit organization after losing my twin daughter to the inner cords of a window blind in June 2002.   Children are dying at the rate of every 2 weeks in the USA because of the lack of information that parents, police and doctors do not have about window blinds. 
 

When we lost Cheyenne, I started looking for parents who lost their child from strangling on the cords of window treatments.   In 2002, we found 12 families who lost their children, some, from the inner cords of the window blind and some on the double safety tasseled pull cords that the industry and almost every single child safety advisor considers safe.  In 2003, we found 15 families who lost their children from window blinds the average age being 3-4 years of age.  Some of these children died from the inner cord, one single cord wrapped around their neck, 2 cords with �safety� tassels on them that were tangled together from being tied up, and one child that was literally pulled up from the floor while the locking mechanism unlocked which caused the blinds to come crashing down, hanging the child. 
 

Since we founded Parents for Window Blind Safety, over 20 families who have lost their children in the past 1 � years are passing out our information warning the public about the dangers of corded window treatments but this is not enough.  The death rate for corded window treatment strangulation has not decreased despite recalls from the industry and warnings from the CPSC.
 

We are doing everything we can to get in touch with doctor offices, daycares, and child proofing agencies so that they understand that children can die up to 5 different ways on new and old window blind or corded window treatments.  We recommend no corded window treatments in the home with children because children have died in every room in the home, including the bathroom.  We urge parents NEVER to place window blinds, roman shades, corded roll up shades in a child�s bedroom because even after placing the cords out of the child�s reach, older children have placed objects underneath the cords and retrieved them and strangled to death.
 

We are asking you for your support in passing along our information to your readers so that they can read all the facts about corded window treatments and make a safe decision about purchasing these hazardous products for their homes.  We would be more than happy to answer any questions you have or do a story in your magazine.  We feel this is vital information for your readers so that they do not have to go through the horror of finding their child hanging from the cords of blinds they thought were safe.

Thank you,