Tic-Tac-Toe Burns — The Hazard of Exposed Floor-Type Room Heaters

THIS paper will call attention to a vehicle for childhood trauma that has taken a high toll of minor and major injuries but has as yet eluded notoriety. During a one-year period from 1958 to 1959, I conducted a child-health conference with a case load of about 50 children under two years of age for the Contra Costa County Health Department in California. Within this period 9 children suffered burns on 13 separate occasions from falls onto the grating of room heaters set just below floor level. A summary of these injuries is presented in Table 1.The danger of these . . .