It is a seemingly harmless household appliance, but a wash machine accident devastated an Oregon family after their 21-month-old son drowned after crawling inside. Tiffany Hebb was doing laundry while her son Ollie kept her company, and when she left the room briefly, he crawled inside of the washing machine. By the time Hebb came back to the laundry room little Ollie was trapped inside the machine and lifeless. Although she tried to resuscitate him, it was too late, and Ollie died the next day at the hospital after suffering severe brain damage.
Fortunately, deaths from wash machine drowning accidents aren't that common. Between 2005 and 2009, two children under the age of 5 died from washing room accidents. However, 500 also children suffered injuries from washing machines and some of these were very serious including amputations and fractures. Hebb and her husband want to raise awareness about the dangers of washing machines. In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says that the most common reasons for deaths and injuries related to washing machines is parents' lack of education about the dangers of leaving their child unattended around washing machines.
Despite safety improvements on washing machines, the best idea is to keep your kids away from both washing machines and dryers. A small child can drown in 1-2 inches of water because they don't have the strength to pull themselves up and a dryer can be scalding hot. Also, consider investing washers and dryers with built-in child safety locks or install child safety locks on the washroom door.
