As warmer weather prompts families to open their windows, a Pierce County fire department and children’s hospital are teaming up to protect children.
PUYALLUP, Wash. — Courtney Thompson still remembers the phone call.
It was Memorial Day weekend 2023. She had just left her family’s home in Olympia when her sister-in-law called in a panic.
“She called and said, ‘Can you please come back? Madden fell and I don’t know if she’ll be okay,'” Thompson recalled.
Her 7-year-old niece, Madden Thompson, had fallen headfirst from a second-story window. She was rushed into surgery that night at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, where doctors inserted a plate and eight screws to repair a fractured femur.
Madden survived.
“It is a miracle. It is incredible and we know that we are lucky,” Thompson said. “We’re looking at a big issue that is 100% preventable.”
That close call is now driving a prevention push across Pierce County. Thompson, who serves as lead public educator for Central Pierce Fire & Rescue, is partnering with MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital to raise awareness about pediatric window falls and distribute free window stops to local families.
The need is significant. Mary Bridge treats an average of 33 children each year for window falls, and more than 25% of those cases come from just five ZIP codes — three of which fall within Central Pierce Fire & Rescue’s service area. Most incidents occur during warmer months, when families open windows to cool their homes.
Thompson said the solution could have changed everything for her family.
“The only way that this could have been a better story is if there would have been window stops before,” she said.
Window stops are small devices that prevent windows from opening more than a few inches — wide enough for airflow, but not wide enough for a child to fall through. Thompson said there are several varieties available, including one that drills into the window frame and another adhesive model that requires no tools.
Thompson and her partners will be at the Washington State Spring Fair this weekend and next, connecting families to free window stops and offering hands-on installation help.
As for Madden, now 10 years old, her aunt says she has taken the whole experience in stride.
“She’s glad that she’s okay, of course,” Thompson said. “But she just thinks it’s really cool that we’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen to someone else.”
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