The summer travel season is almost here. Whether traveling by automobile or airplane this summer, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) provides a lot of useful information for parents traveling with young children. Here is where to find the NTSB website. Keep kids safe, avoid injury, and have a great summer!
The heat of summer is in full swing. As our children head into the pool to cool off, keep in mind that modern pool and spa drains generally contain direct suction. Powerful suction can trap swimmers under water causing serious brain injury and death. According to statistics reported in the Los Angeles Times, “Between 1999 and 2008, 12 people were killed in pool and spa entrapments and 72 were injured, according to a CPSC report released Thursday.” Fortunately, at the end of 2008, federal legislation went into effect to prevent powerful suction from trapping swimmers at the bottom of pools and spas. In response, public and private pool owners invested in drain covers intended to mitigate the dangerous effects of direct suction drains. However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a massive voluntary recall just as the summer swimming season starts to heat up. As reported by the Los Angeles Times on May 27, 2011, “About 1 million covers made by eight manufacturers, some among the largest, were being voluntarily pulled after a confidential report revealed the products had failed safety tests. Officials with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said public pools and spas with direct suction systems and recalled covers should close until replacement covers could be installed.” http://www.latimes.com/health/fl-cpsc-recall-florida-pools-20110526,0,5231496.story.
Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board held a meeting discussing child safety in motor vehicles and airplanes. Unfortunately, the laws designed to protect our children seem to fall short once again. For example, Oregon law allows parents to discontinue use of car seats before their child’s body is capable of protection from the standard seat belt in most cars. In fact, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, placement of the lap belt over the abdomen is a major cause of internal organ and spinal injury in children, while the lap belt over the neck is a major cause of disabling or fatal neck injury in children weighing under 80 pounds or less than 4′ 9″ in height. To read more about the concerns stemming from last month’s meeting, read here.
Today, Fisher-Price announced a safety recall of more than 11 million products sold for use by infants and toddlers. This giant in the world of manufacturing products for millions of young children worldwide was clearly under pressure from the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, which warns parents to “immediately” stop using products due to risk of significant harm. For more information about the recall, here is an article posted on msnbc.com.
Today’s news outlets are buzzing with warnings about a massive recall of infant and children’s over-the-counter medication. However, the company’s “voluntary recall” occurred late Friday afternoon–too late for many parents to notice before shutting off computers and televisions to embark on weekend plans. If you are one of the unsuspecting parents who gave a child recalled medication, please note any changes in behavior or other symptoms and report immediately to your pediatrician or emergency physician.
When a large-scale recall occurs, there is a lot of information that becomes available on the internet. As an attorney and parent concerned with obtaining accurate information about recalls, I always start by reading the original recall notice published by the regulating government agency, which in this case is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Frequently, the government will issue updates as new information becomes available. With this particular recall, the government’s notice refers consumers to the recall notice issued by the medication manufacturer for additional information.
On Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) announced the “voluntary recall” of approximately 217,000 Graco cribs due to significant safety risks that came to the public’s attention after several reports of the drop side rail of cribs failing. The CPSC recall notice warns that the rail failure poses a “risk of suffocation and strangulation” as well as risk of the child falling to the ground. The recall period covers cribs sold from February, 2007 to March, 2010. The recall notice includes cribs sold “nationwide”. Thus, if you are an Oregon resident who purchased a Graco crib during this time period, please assume the recall applies to you. For more details about the recall, including photographs of recalled cribs, please read the April 29, 2010 Recall Notice.
If your child has already suffered injury or death as a result of a crib-related incident, please call an attorney immediately so that the claim can be properly reported to the CPSC and your family’s rights can be fully protected. Even if the incident occurred in a crib other than those affected by the current recall, it is still possible that the crib was defective. Therefore, a complete investigation should be undertaken by an attorney and appropriate experts.
