Baby girl expected to be OK after falling out of Riverbank apartment window

A 1-year-old girl is believed to have escaped serious injury after falling out a second-story window at a Riverbank apartment Thursday morning, authorities said.

The child was on a living room couch that abuts a window with a screen on it. It’s believed she leaned on the screen and fell about 15 to 20 feet onto a table on the back patio of an apartment below, according to Peter Lee, deputy with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.

The child was responsive to paramedics and there were no apparent signs she was suffering from serious injuries before being taken to a nearby hospital. The child was expected to be taken to UC Davis Medical Center as a precaution. Specific injuries were not immediately available.

At the time of the accident, an aunt who was baby-sitting the child was nearby in the kitchen, which does not offer a direct view of the living room. The aunt heard “a thud” and immediately rushed to the window, from which she could see the child moving around and crying. She called emergency crews to the apartment at 2701 Topeka St.

Sgt. Jon McQueary described the fall as a likely “accident,” but added the case would be forwarded to the Stanislaus County Child Protective Services for review.

This is the second time in less than two months a child has fallen through a window screen and out of a second-story apartment.

On Aug. 7 at an apartment on Modesto’s Palisades Avenue, a 4-year-old child playing on a bed near an open window with a screen attached fell to the parking lot below.

That child was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for undisclosed injuries. At the time, the injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, though his condition today was not immediately available.

In 2011, the journal Pediatrics reported that nearly 5,200 children were treated in hospital emergency departments each year after falling from windows. Some estimate that 15,000 kids a year are injured in those types of accidents.

Window falls occur more frequently in large urban areas and low-income neighborhoods, studies show.

The website Safekids.com, in a list of tips, says installing window guards and keeping furniture away from windows are among the best way to help keep children from falling.

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 12:43 PM with the headline "Baby girl expected to be OK after falling out of Riverbank apartment window."