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I would like you to meet our little angel Chloe. Chloe was born May 7, 2005 in Vineland, NJ. My husband and I were so excited to have her. She was so full of life at such a little age. She knew how to grab people’s attention weather they wanted to give it to her or not!
When Chloe started to get mobile we couldn’t keep her away from her dog, she loved her dog so much she shared everything with him even our phone, dinner, and so much more. He became her partner in crime! Where ever she was he was.
I remember one morning taking clothes out of the dryer and hearing water running, I thought to myself what is that so, looked around the corner and saw Chloe and Tattoo in the tub together and Chloe putting soap all over him. So I took her out and told her no-no and she began to smack my leg and tell me “NO Touch”. I just laughed and thought to myself we are in trouble with her!
She was always up to something and I always tried to keep up with her but she always seemed to sneak behind my back and get into more. That day after cleaning up the dog I sat her in the living room so that I could get the dishes put away and she snuck into the kitchen and grabbed the dog food bowl and took it into the living room and spilled it all over the floor and her and Tattoo sat and ate it. She was so mad when I took it away!
A couple of weeks before Chloe passed away my mom called me and said “Erin I put up the Christmas tree, and I asked her if I could bring the kids down to see how Chloe would react to the tree. Well I couldn’t believe my eyes she took all of the ordiments off that she could reach and I remember going home and telling my husband we are not putting the tree up until Christmas Eve. Well I didn’t and I put it up three weeks before Christmas. Well Chloe played catch with her dog and all of the glass Christmas balls.
Chloe always new how to get her way she would just give you this look and you would melt. My husband melted more then me, she would just cuddle up to him at bed time and hold him so tight and I would say “come on Chloe girl it is time for bed and she would grab him tighter! He would tell me time and time again, just give her a little more time with daddy. She had her daddy rapped around her little finger.
There are so many funny memories that we all have of our little Chloe girl that remain in our hearts. And it would take hours maybe even days to tell all of her great stories!
On December 17, 2006 some time early in the morning Chloe got out of her bed and made it into my son’s room. The only thing I remember of that tragic morning is hearing a loud crash and my two children running into our room and saying “Mommy Chloe is under the TV.” My husband and I through the 27 inch TV off of her and I picked her up and ran to the phone and called 911. I was so distraught that I couldn’t hear the operator so I through the phone and ran Chloe to my neighbors where I knew that she would be able to help me with her until the paramedics got to her. That morning they helicoptered her out to Cooper Hospital and when my husband and I got there we were rushed to the doctors where they told us they would do they best that they could for Chloe and that she really needed a miracle. Chloe sustained a lot of trauma to her head and the doctors did everything in their power to bring our Chloe girl back but the damage was to server. On December 18, 2006 at 4:00pm Chloe was dedicated and by 4:10 Chloe crashed, my husband and I had to make the hardest decision of our lives, we made the doctors stop everything and let Chloe rest in peace. Our Chloe girl made all of the decisions in our home and she was like a little mom so when she made up her mind to go to heaven we granted her one little wish to be our little Christmas Angel.
We would like to thank all of the Doctors, Nurses and staff that were in contact with Chloe for everything that you did for our little angel. She would have not been too happy with everything that they did to her, but she knew that you did it all with the best loving care that you all had.
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Click here to see Chloe Keiser's Family Tree |
 Tributes and Condolences |
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I miss you / Mommy (Mom)
Chloe girl,
Mommy misses you so much. I wish that I would have never put that tv in your brothers room and I am so sorry for that. I wish I could hear your voice and play with you one more time. I love you more that words can say and I hope that...
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I thought you might like this...... / Julia Brammer Angel Emilly (Friend to angel )
Hello angel girl... I made one of these for Emily and I thought of you too. Hugs to you today. |
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You were so full of life at such a little age / Mommy (Chloe's Mommy )
To My angel Chloe,
Mommy and daddy are so proud of you. We couldnt have asked for such an awsome little baby. When you were little I just thanked god that he sent you to us. We loved you so much even when you did all of the nutty things. And I w...
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Happy Birthday Angel / Julia Robert Boys Brammer (passing through )
Happy BirthdayAngelIf I only Knew.....You were going to be angel.I would of hold on to you tight.If I only Knew.....The nite we layed in bed..Would have been our last.I would have read you a longer story.If I only Knew...The kiss and hug was my las...
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Happy Birthday Baby Girl / Pat Andrasz (Neighbor)
My best memory of Chloe was at Holloween time when Chloe`s mommy had all the kids paint pumpkins and Chloe had paint and glitter all over her and everything thing else. Her mommy allowed all the kids to make a mess and allowed the kids to ...
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She'll forever be in my heart<3 / Brittnie (Neighbor/baby sitter ) Read >> |
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Sweet Girl Next Door / Tony &. Gin Pisciotta (Friend) Read >> |
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| Her legacy |
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Chloe has done it again
Erin Keiser, daughter Chloe
Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew
Assemblyman Nelson Albano
Juliet Fletcher
VINELAND— As Erin Keiser reaches to adjust the baubles on the Christmas tree she and her family recently decorated, she cups three little red ones. Across their metallic surface, she and the others have handwritten permanent-marker notes to her daughter, Chloe.
Almost exactly a year ago, Chloe, 18 months old, was killed when a television fell on top of her.
The tree Erin has dressed now sits near Chloe’s grave, a patch of festivity in a formal cemetery. “Standing here, this is the hardest thing,” Keiser says, breathing in sharply as she looks at the headstone. “Everything else I do, that’s how I hide. How I hide from this.”
That “everything else” is a time-consuming round of phone-calls – to manufacturers who make televisions and other large furniture, the outlets that sell them and, finally, the politicians she hoped might step in to warn other parents of such accidents that she says may be unexpected but are not in fact rare.
Just a week ago, she said she saw the December 17 anniversary of the accident ready to come and go without progress.
But an unexpected success Tuesday hung upon a politician’s difficult decision over what household accidents could be classed as preventable.
“It’s a fine line,” said Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew. “You can’t legislate against every accident, I understand that -- and Erin does too, I think.”
But Keiser, who had called Assemblyman Nelson Albano in January, and had then run through the directories of elected officials, called Van Drew last week. By her own admission, she was despairing.
All she wanted, she said, was straps or L-shaped brackets offered with heavy furniture, and a warning label attached, telling of the dangers.
In the past year, she had seen similar moves in Pennsylvania stall.
“I called everyone under the sun,” she remembered. “Governor Corzine’s office said to me, “We’re very sorry, but we don’t get involved in that.’”
But Van Drew, an assemblyman for New Jersey’s first district and a state senator-elect, called her mid-morning Tuesday to tell her that he had weighed the idea, and decided there was a way to improve safety – without, as he put, imposing “overly burdensome” rules on outlets.
“We’re going to take it up with the office of legislative services, and look at putting it into a bill form.”
“I’m going to introduce it on the Senate side,” he said. “And I’ve spoken to my colleagues in the assembly, and feel optimistic they will support it.”
Keiser says that with a year gone by, one of the hardest tasks that she has put off has been to thank everyone who stepped in at the time of Chloe’s death, offering help with medical treatment, the funeral, and coping with the grief afterwards.
“They did more than I could have ever expected,” she said.
Now, she says, she feels that by keeping her focus, she has made a case for a change in the law. Eight other children have been killed nationwide in similar accidents since Chloe’s death, she said.
“It’s about common sense,” Van Drew stressed, adding that he had held off mandating installation or sale of the straps themselves, and would just stick to ensuring information be given.
Giving facts to consumers, he said, “is not overly onerous, and doesn’t eat into anyone’s profits.”
“I just think that’s worth it, for saving other lives.”
It’s what Keiser said she had got used to not hearing. “Christmas, for us, is always so hard,” she said. “This came just in time.”
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Chloe to Promote Bill HR 1861 Katie Elise & Meghan Agnis Act to keep kids safe
Look around your house and ask yourself is it safe for children to be in. Most people who have children will say yes it is. They have bought all types of safety products and installed them throughout their entire house. The outlets are covered, wires are tucked away, door knobs are covered, safety latch on the front and back door, lock on the refrigerator and stove, locks on all cabinets and drawers, and all poisons and medications are put in a high place and locked away. That does seem like everything was covered but there is something very important missing from that list. This is something that every house has in every room. These objects that are overlooked by so many adults can cause severe injury or even death. Have you figured out what the objects are yet? Here are a few hints: Each room has at least one. They come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. There are also many different kinds that have different purposes. Still having a hard time figuring out what the objects are. It is furniture and televisions. A list of the different types of furniture is: armoires, dressers, television stands and the televisions that go on the stands. Most parents have had the thought of furniture tip-over over go through their minds but do not take action to prevent it from happening. Some parents have even tested their furniture to see if it would tip-over and when it does not tip-over then they think that it is alright. However, the way that they are testing the furniture could be incorrect and the result of this could be terrible. Continue reading to find out about how many children have televisions in their rooms, what is ASTM International and what they have to do with furniture tip-over, Bill H.R. 2057, consumer product safety commission warnings, and ways to prevent furniture tip-over from happening.
Parents put all sorts of furniture in their child/children’s bedrooms. Armoires and dressers are the most popular because they are the most practical piece of furniture to have in the room. Armoires and dressers are what hold the clothes that are not hung in the closet. However, there is one item that seems to be creeping into every bedroom in the United States. This item is a television. Parents put televisions in their child/children’s bedrooms for many reasons. Either they do it to free up the television in the living room so they can watch it or it is an easy way to get some quite time after a hard, long day of work. It almost seems like a television is also a practical piece of furniture to have in a bedroom. A survey done from the Kaiser Family Foundation using 1,051 families with children age six months to six years and then follow-up focus groups with many of them found these findings:
One in three (33%) children this age has a TV in their bedroom (19% of children age 1 year or younger, 29% of children ages 2-3 years, and 43% of those ages 4-6 years). The most common reasons parents give for putting a TV in their child’s bedroom is to free up other TVs in the house so the parent or other family members can watch their own shows (55%), to keep the child occupied so the parent can do things around the house (39%), to help the child fall asleep (30%), and as a reward for good behavior (36%). As one mother who participated in a focus group in Irvine, CA said, “Media makes life easier. We’re all happier. He isn’t throwing tantrums. I can get some work done” (Arnst,).
Unfortunately this survey was not done to find out how many young children have televisions in their rooms that are unsafe. The results of this survey show how many houses have televisions in a young child’s room that could easily tip-over.
On September 12, 2006 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released a warning about TV, large furniture tip-over dangers. Since 2000, more than 100 deaths were reported and most involved young children. They are warning parents and caregivers about the dangers of televisions and heavy furniture tipping over and killing young children. The number of TV tip-over deaths reported to CPSC during the first seven months of 2006 is twice the typical year’s average (CPSC,).
Nancy Nord, CPSC Acting Chairman, said “there are usually five deaths reported to CPSC each year caused by televisions tipping over onto young children, but we are aware of ten deaths already in 2006. We are issuing this warning so parents will take the necessary steps to prevent any more of these tragedies” (CPSC,).
What is ASTM International? ASTM stands for American Society for Testing and Materials. ASTM International is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world-a trusted source for technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services (ASTM International, ). A couple of engineers and scientists formed this group over a century ago by working together to solve the problem of frequent rail breaks in the burgeoning railroad industry. As the century progressed and new industrial, governmental and environmental developments created new standardized requirements, ASTM answered the call with consensus standards that have made products and services safer, better and more cost-effective (ASTM International, ). ASTM has over 30,000 technical experts who represent producers, users, consumers, government and academia from over 100 countries.
Now that you know about ASTM International the question, what do they have to do with furniture tip-over can be answered? ASTM International President James Thomas met with U.S. Representative Allyson Y. Schwartz (D-PA) in July 2005 to discuss the efforts of ASTM Subcommittee F15.42 to help prevent injuries associated with furniture tip-over accidents. Thomas and Schwartz focused on proposals to revise and strengthen ASTM standard F 2057, Safety Specification for Chests, Door Chests and Dressers, as well as legislation authored by Schwartz that would set federal furniture safety guidelines (ASTM news, ). The revision to strengthen Specification F 2057 is to include armoires, entertainment centers and shelving units, clarification of the test methods, enhancement of the warning labels and the addition of a requirement to include restrainers to allow consumers to attach furniture to a wall (ASTM news,). However, F 2057 is a voluntary act. The manufacturers of furniture and electronics do not have to comply with anything that it says.
Since F 2057 is voluntary, Allyson Y. Schwartz is trying to get a Bill passed that would make it mandatory. The Bill that was presented to the House of Representatives in 2005 is called H. R. 1861 [109th]: Katie Elise and Meghan Agnes Act (GovTrack, ). This Bill is named after two little girls who passed away from falling furniture. Katie Elise Lambert was born on July 30, 2001 and passed away on January 21, 2005 when a lard wardrobe cabinet fell on top of her (KatieEliseLambert,). Meghan Agnes Beck was born on October 23, 2001 and passed away on December 18, 2004 when her dresser fell on top of her (Meghanshope, ). Unfortunately this Bill was denied in 2005 but Allyson Y. Schwartz and several families that have lost children to falling furniture are working hard to get this Bill passed. If the Katie Elise and Meghan Agnes Act is to ever be passed then it would require the manufacturers of furniture and electronic appliances to have warning labels and include safety straps such as angle-braces, anchors, or other anchoring devices with their products.
From 2000 to 2005, CPSC has reported of 26 TV tip-over-related deaths and 65 furniture tip-over deaths. More than 80 percent of all these deaths involved young children. Additionally, CPSC estimates that in 2005 at least 3,000 children younger than five were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms because of injuries associated with TV tip-overs (CPSC,).
How many more children have to die before something is done about it? They have laws against smoking in public places and smoking in your vehicle when there are children in it. They claim that these laws are to save lives but a bill to save children from falling furniture and appliances was denied. What is more important, cigarette smoke or the lives of every child in the world? Maybe Congress should ask themselves that question.
http://www.katieeliselambert.org/
http://www.meghanshope.org/cms/
By: Tiffany Muirheid
VINELAND — Erin Keiser believes her toddler was one small strap away from avoiding death.
It was the most unthinkable type of tragedy. Last December, she and her husband, John, woke up to a thud in one of their children's bedrooms.
She ran from her bed and was met by her two older children in the hallway. She still remembers what they said.
“Mommy, Chloe is under the television.”
Erin ran into the room and saw the hands and legs of her 18-month-old infant sticking out from under a 27-inch television.
She remembers throwing the set off with the help of her husband, running into the living room to call 911, running to a neighbor's house who knew CPR, and then being comforted by first responders who said there wasn't much hope for her daughter.
Police said one of the toddler's siblings let her out of her room by accident, and she must have tried to climb up the television stand to get something.
“It was secure on that stand for a year and a half,” John Keiser said. “I tried to fix it on there so all the weight was on the back.”
For the past two months the Keiser family has dealt with police and prosecutor investigations. Should the television have been on a more secure table? Were they criminally responsible for their infant's death?
Then, the Keisers found a network of support: people whose children suffered the same fate as their daughter — and a cause to make sure these kinds of accidents are prevented in the future.
The Keisers and at least two other families in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are asking for support of a bill that will be proposed in the next month or so by U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa.
Known as the Katie Elise and Meghan Agnes Act, the measure was named after two children who died when a piece of furniture fell on top of them.
The act was introduced into last year's congressional session but died while in the Energy and Commerce Committee, said Aaron Brand, Schwartz's legislative aide. Schwartz plans to reintroduce the bill in a month or two, Brand said.
“I think we're hopeful that with Democrats in control of congress there could be some more action on this,” Brand said.
The bill would require that security straps be included with all furniture, allowing it to be mounted to a wall.
Erin Keiser said the bill could improve safety in countless homes.
“Everyone, even myself, thinks their house is safe,” she said. “But there's many things that are overlooked.”
John Keiser, who used to work moving and installing furniture for Raymour and Flanigan, said that barely anyone allowed him to put security straps on new purchases in their home.
“I look back on that, on how many people, including us, didn't use those straps, and it takes on a whole new meaning now,” he said.
In the meantime, Erin Keiser is lobbying local officials to support the bill once it's introduced.
“I'm not asking everyone to throw away their children's toys or furniture because it's not safe,” she said. “It's just one more way to prevent these kinds of tragedies.”
By: The Press of Atlantic City
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