Second Infant Death Prompts; Recall to Repair

Second Infant Death Prompts Re-Announcement of Delta Enterprise "Safety Peg" Drop-Side Crib Recall to Repair: Missing Safety Pegs Create Risk of Entrapment and Suffocation


On March 22, 2011, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) re-announced a 2008 recall of more than 985,000 Delta Enterprise drop-side cribs. The CPSC recently learned of a 2009 death in which a 7-month-old girl became entrapped and suffocated between the detached drop-side and mattress of her recalled crib. The crib was purchased secondhand and re-assembled without safety pegs in the bottom tracked. The CPSC urges consumers to check their Delta cribs immediately and to STOP using cribs that are missing a safety peg on either leg of the drop side. Contact Delta to receive a no-cost, repair kit at (800) 516-5304 or visit www.cribrecallcenter.com.

Missing safety pegs can create a situation where the crib's drop-side rail disengages from the track. This can create a hazardous space in which an infant can become entrapped and suffocate. At the time of the October 2008 recall, CPSC notified consumers about the death of an 8-month-old girl who became entrapped and suffocated when the drop side of the crib detached. The crib involved in this incident also was re-assembled without safety pegs. At the time of the October 2008 recall announcement, there were reports of two entrapments and nine detachments in cribs without safety pegs.

This re-announcement involves cribs that were made in Taiwan and Indonesia. The cribs were sold at major retail stores including Kmart, Target and Walmart between January 1995 and December 2005 (through September 2007 for model 4624) for about $100.

Delta's name and address is printed on the mattress support boards and the Delta logo is on the crib's top teether rail. Model numbers are located on the top of the mattress support board. This announcement includes the following 49 crib models with "Crib Trigger Lock with Safety Peg" drop-side hardware:

4320, 4340
4500, 4520, 4530, 4532, 4540, 4542, 4550, 4551, 4580
4600, 4620, 4624 - production dates 01/06 thru 11/07, 4640, 4660, 4720, 4735, 4742, 4750 - production dates 01/95 thru 12/00
4760, 4770, 4780, 4790
4820, 4840, 4850, 4860, 4880, 4890, 4892; and
4900, 4910, 4920, 4925-2, 4925-6, 4930, 4940, 4943, 4944, 4947, 4948, 4949, 4950, 4958, 4963, 4968, 4969, 4980

For more information on Crib Safety, visit CPSC's Crib Information Center.

Palmer Ambulance Services Car Seat Check Up Event, April 9, 10-2

UP Comming Safe Kids Events

April 4th, 2011,
Public Health Month Kick-Off, City Hall (instead of the monthly meeting)
10-12 noon

April 9, 2011
Car Seat Check Palmer Ambulance Services
10-2pm

April 16, 2011
Car Seat Check, Baystate Franklin Medical Center
48 Sanderson Street, Greenfield
10am-2pm

April 25, 2011
Car Seat Check, Mason Square Fire Department
33 Eastern Ave, Springfield
11am-3pm,

April 30, 2011,
Springfield Fire Department Open House
1212 Carew Street, Springfield
10-2pm,

May 2nd, 2011
Mini Health Fair (instead of the monthly meeting)
Wal-Mart on Boston Road.
11am-1pm,

June 6, 2011,
Safe Kids Meeting
50 Maple Street
11am,

Car Seat Check Up

Car Seats Recomendations for Children

Click on image for a better view

AAP UPDATES RECOMMENDATION ON CAR SEATS

AAP UPDATES RECOMMENDATION ON CAR SEATS

Children should ride rear-facing to age 2, use a booster until at least age 8


Below is a policy appearing in the April issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).


For Release: Monday, March 21 , 2011 12:01 am (ET)

New advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) will change the way many parents buckle up their children for a drive.

In a new policy published in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics (published online March 21), the AAP advises parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. It also advises that most children will need to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age.

The previous policy, from 2002, advised that it is safest for infants and toddlers to ride rear-facing up to the limits of the car seat, but it also cited age 12 months and 20 pounds as a minimum. As a result, many parents turned the seat to face the front of the car when their child celebrated his or her first birthday.

“Parents often look forward to transitioning from one stage to the next, but these transitions should generally be delayed until they’re necessary, when the child fully outgrows the limits for his or her current stage,” said Dennis Durbin, MD, FAAP, lead author of the policy statement and accompanying technical report.

“A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body,” Dr. Durbin said.

“For larger children, a forward-facing seat with a harness is safer than a booster, and a belt-positioning booster seat provides better protection than a seat belt alone until the seat belt fits correctly.”
While the rate of deaths in motor vehicle crashes in children under age 16 has decreased substantially – dropping 45 percent between 1997 and 2009 – it is still the leading cause of death for children ages 4 and older. Counting children and teens up to age 21, there are more than 5,000 deaths each year. Fatalities are just the tip of the iceberg; for every fatality, roughly 18 children are hospitalized and more than 400 are injured seriously enough to require medical treatment.

New research has found children are safer in rear-facing car seats. A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention showed that children under age 2 are 75 percent less likely to die or be severely injured in a crash if they are riding rear-facing.

“The ‘age 2’ recommendation is not a deadline, but rather a guideline to help parents decide when to make the transition,” Dr. Durbin said. “Smaller children will benefit from remaining rear-facing longer, while other children may reach the maximum height or weight before 2 years of age.”

Children should transition from a rear-facing seat to a forward-facing seat with a harness, until they reach the maximum weight or height for that seat. Then a booster will make sure the vehicle’s lap-and-shoulder belt fit properly. The shoulder belt should lie across the middle of the chest and shoulder, not near the neck or face.

The lap belt should fit low and snug on the hips and upper thighs, not across the belly. Most children will need a booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years old.

Children should ride in the rear of a vehicle until they are 13 years old.

Although the Federal Aviation Administration permits children under age 2 to ride on an adult’s lap on an airplane, they are best protected by riding in an age- and size-appropriate restraint.

"Children should ride properly restrained on every trip in every type of transportation, on the road or in the air,” Dr. Durbin said.

A car seat guide for parents is available at www.healthychildren.org/carseatguide

Public Health Month Calendar 2011

Click on the calendar for a better view

Local Fire Fighters Supporting National Awareness Week