August, 1984

Fans, Heating and Ventilation and Air Conditioning, Home Appliances, Maintenance and Structures

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Babies and Kids, Baby Gates or Barriers, Nursery Equipment and Supplies

Children's Expandable Enclosures Recalled NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 1, 1984 Release # 84-050 CPSC Issues Complaints On Children's Expandable Enclosures Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission today announced that its staff has issued a Complaint against 6 manufacturers seeking the recall of children's expandable enclosures, sometimes called "baby corrals." These enclosures serve a purpose similar to a playpen. The Complaint alleges that these enclosures present a neck entrapment-strangulation hazard to children between the ages of 10 and 24 months. The Complaint further alleges that 3 deaths, 1 incident of severe brain damage, and 6 incidents involving minor or no injury are associated with the enclosures. The enclosures are constructed of criss-cross wooden slats riveted together which expand to form continuous circular structures of varying diameters. When the enclosures are opened for use, the slats cross one another in such a manner as to form series of vee- shaped openings around the entire circumference of the tops and bottoms of the enclosures, and closed diamond-shaped openings around the entire circumference of the middles of the enclosures. It is also alleged in the Complaint that children between the ages of 10 and 24 months can climb upon the enclosures, slip and catch their necks in the vee-shaped openings at the top of the enclosures, or attempt to crawl through and become entrapped in the diamond-shaped openings in the middle of the enclosures. The angles of the vee-shaped openings are sufficiently acute so as to entrap the neck and head, resulting in death by strangulation or in other serious injury, especially where the children's feet are not in contact with the ground. In addition to recall of the enclosures, the staff seeks an extensive notice campaign to warn the public of the neck entrapment strangulation hazard presented by the enclosures. The manufacturers named in the Complaint are: Memline Corporation, Suring, Wisconsin; Worldsbest Industries, Inc., Cudahy, Wisconsin; Paris Manufacturing Corporation, South Paris, Maine; North States Industries, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota; Mapes Industries Incorporated, Great Neck, New York: and CBS Incorporated, New York, New York. Anyone who knows of a death, injury, or other incident in which a child's head or neck became entrapped in a children's expandable enclosure is asked to call the CPSC toll-free Hotline at 800-638-CPSC. A teletypewriter number for the hearing-impaired is (301) 595-7054. Read more.