- Author
-
Tyrrell, E. A.
- Title
- Fire Accidents Involving the Ignition of Sleepwear Worn by Children Under the Age of Three. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
NBS TN 815,
February 1974,
23 p.
- Distribution
- Available from Government Printing Office Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
accidents
|
burns (injuries)
|
childrens sleepwear
|
FFACTS
|
fabrics
|
fires
|
flammable fabrics
|
garments
|
ignition source
|
standards
- Abstract
- Accident case histories of children under age 3 involved in sleepwear fires are examined in detail. Of 434 persons involved in sleepwear ignition incidents in the NBS Flammable Fabrics Accident Case and Testing System as of January 1973, 101 were children under age 6; 22 of these were children under age 3. In 15 of these 22 accidents, the child was a victim of his own actions, while in 7 more accidents, the child playes a passive role in the ignition sequence. Matches and kitchen ranges were the most frequent ignition sources found for this group of children. Seven of these small children died; the remaining 15 victims sustained burn injuries covering from one to 65 percent of their bodies. Most of the sleepwear items involved in these 22 accidents were made of cotton and 14 of these 22 items were pajamas. Children under age 3 were most frequently involved in fire accidents during the morning hours in the kitchen or bedroom. Only one child was under the supervision of an adult at the time of the accident. From the information found in the case history reports, an analysis of the severity of the injuries received by the victims was made and it was determined that the severity of the injuries received by one of the 3 infants under the age of one and 15 of the remaining 19 one-and two-year-olds probably would have been reduced if they had been afforded the protection of a flammability standard.