Be Aware: Window Blinds Threaten Lives..

(AOL News)-- The baby didn't look right.

On the way to bed, Linda Kaiser checked on her 1-year-old twins and found a parent's nightmare.

Her little girl Cheyenne had pulled the cord off a window shade and strangled herself.

That June night seven years ago marked the start of one mom's child-safety crusade -- a campaign that culminated Tuesday with the national recall of millions of shades and blinds similar to the one that killed Cheyenne.

Kaiser, of Elgin, Ill., was a dental assistant who stayed home to care for her twins and their older sister. Today, she runs the national grassroots advocacy organization she founded after Cheyenne's death, Parents for Window Blind Safety.

"This isn't just about my kid," she said. "It's about other kids who died."

The national recall, issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the industry-supported Window Covering Safety Council, includes products from some of the largest retailers in the country: Walmart, Pottery Barn, West Elm, Big Lots and J.C. Penney, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"This recall involves millions of Roman and roll-up blinds. About 5 million Roman shades and about 3 million roll-up blinds are sold each year," the federal commission noted in a news release.

Kaiser has worked tirelessly on three fronts: spreading the word about potential window shade dangers, offering support to other parents who have suffered similar tragedies and educating the public.

For her, and parents like her who have lost a child in similar accidents, the fight isn't over. In some ways, the attention the recall brought is just the beginning.

Many parents know to tie up the pull cords used to raise and lower shades. But the cords that run along the back of the shades are easy to pull away from the fabric -- an adult can do so with a pinkie finger, Kaiser said. Since 1991, the federal agency has received reports of more than 200 children dying from window shade pull cords, five of them in the past three years from the exposed backing cords.

That's how Cheyenne died too.

Kaiser thought she had followed every safety precaution in her home. She and her husband had installed child-proof outlet covers and safely stored medications, and she had tied up the shades' pull cords. In honor of Cheyenne, Kaiser's friends created a memorial Web site. Two other parents, searching for answers in their own children's deaths, found the memorial and contacted Kaiser.

They both had children who strangled on cords within two weeks of Cheyenne's death.

"I thought, 'We can't just sit here and do nothing,'" Kaiser said.

Kaiser admits she sometimes wanted to give up. She wrote the CPSC often, with no response. She would tell others her cautionary tale, and people would look her in the eye and tell her she was a negligent mother.

"This is not about parental supervision," Kaiser said. "I don't think people understand how fast this can happen, and how fast a child can die."

As an example, the parents' group posted a public service announcement on YouTube that features a frightening home video. A mom, filming several children in what looks like her home, pans the camera and sees her 3-year-old beside a window with a cord around his neck. As she speaks to emergency workers, her son, freed from the cord, starts crying.

This week's recall was too late to save 3-year-old Brandyn, who died Sept. 11. But his father, Navy Chief Petty Officer Phillip Coppedge, credits Kaiser and her organization with supporting him and his family through their grief. He is married and has three other children, ages 21, 15 and 10.

Many mornings Brandyn would sit by the window and wave at the big kids heading to a nearby school. But he never messed with the blinds, his dad said.

In September, Brandyn's oldest brother was babysitting. He went to the bathroom, and when he returned, the boy had gotten tangled in the shade.

All the shades are gone from the house now, and Coppedge and his wife brace for a rough winter season -- Christmas without Brandyn, and then what would have been the boy's fourth birthday in January.

The family still plans on buying the toys they wanted to give to Brandyn; they'll just give them to Toys for Tots instead.

Coppedge has warned everyone he knows about the shade dangers.

"I have been in my own way taking a stance," he said. He's also working to develop a program with the Navy's Fleet and Family Support Center to speak with new parents about the shades.

Kaiser, too, plans to keep pushing. The recall doesn't include all the shades that have injured or killed children. She's not stopping until it does.

"We're not done yet," she said.

Skateboarder's Death Underscores Insect Allergy Risks

(CNN) -- Known for building skate parks and shaping the skateboarding scene in New York, Andy Kessler, 48, died this week after an allergic reaction to an insect sting, friends and family told news media.

Kessler's death is a reminder that stings can be deadly for those with an allergy to certain insects, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology said Friday.

At least 40 people in the United States die each year as the result of insect stings, the academy said. As many as 5 percent of Americans are at risk for a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction from insect stings, according to the organization.

In a typical week in the emergency room, doctors at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia, see about six or fewer cases of people with allergic reactions to insects, said Dr. James P. Capes, director of the emergency department.

"It's common, but not incredibly common," he said.

Typically, when stung by an insect, a person will have no reaction or a mild local reaction, such as redness, swelling or itching at the site of the sting. However, some people experience a more widespread reaction, such as a drop in blood pressure, lightheadedness or hives all over.

In the most serious cases, a person can go into anaphylaxis, a condition in which he or she may have difficulty breathing. Other symptoms include swelling of the mouth or throat, itchy skin, wheezing, cough and localized pain, said Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York.

Capes advises people who experience a systemic reaction to call 911 and wait for an ambulance, because it will have medicine to treat the reaction immediately. An antihistamine such as Benadryl will be given and, in severe cases, a shot of epinephrine.

Even if the reaction is not severe, Benadryl will help with normal symptoms of insect stings, Capes said.

Those who have had allergic reactions to insects should always carry an antihistamine and an epinephrine auto-injector for emergencies, experts said.

Insect allergies may be harder to control than some food allergies because it's not always possible to predict when bees, wasps and other stinging bugs are around, Capes said.

Severe reactions don't usually happen the very first time a person gets stung, Capes said.

"The thing about allergic reactions that is interesting, or scary, is that we never know what the next allergic reaction is going to be," he said.

For those who have a history of anaphylactic reactions to insects, vaccines are available for yellow jackets, wasps, honey bees and fire ants, Bassett said. The immunization process takes three to five years, he said.

There are also blood and skin tests that people can take to determine whether they are sensitive to these insects, he said.

Besides anaphylaxis, people may experience other kinds of reactions, Bassett said. If a person is stung hundreds of times at once, he or she may need emergency care, as the venom may lead to seizures, shock and even death, he said.

There is also a rare reaction called serum sickness that includes joint pain and flu-like illness that may result from insect stings, and has allergy-like symptoms, Bassett said.

In rare cases, even mosquito bites can lead to anaphylaxis, Bassett said. There is no treatment for mosquito allergies, but there is a diagnostic test, he said.

Bassett offers the following tips to reduce the danger of insects:

• Stay away from stinging insect nests when possible.

• Consider wearing closed-toed shoes in an area where there may be many stinging insects.

• Remain calm and quiet around a stinging insect, and move slowly away from it.

• Avoid brightly colored clothing, as well as perfumes and scented hair products and lotions.

• Avoid loose-fitting clothing, which can accidentally trap the insect.

• Use caution when eating outdoors, especially when sodas or other sweetened drinks are available.

For more tips on managing insect allergies, visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Web site. The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology can also help you find an allergist.