| Office of Information and Public Affairs | Washington, DC 20207 |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | |
| March 15, 1982 | |
| Release # 82-008 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Creative Playthings is renewing its efforts to replace all estimated 137,000 to 239,000 Creative Playthings Indoor Gym House ladders following a recent strangulation death. The product was manufactured prior to 1980 by Creative Playthings, a unit of Gabriel Industries, a division of CBS Inc., New York, N.Y.
Consumers are urged to remove and destroy the ladder immediately.
The replacement program is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission which advised the firm of the death of a two-year-old California boy on February 9, 1982, in an accident associated with a Creative Playthings Indoor Gym House.
The firm first took corrective action for the product in February, 1980, after learning of an accidental death and an incident causing brain damage which later resulted in death to a child playing with the product. The firm then urged owners of the product to obtain a free replacement ladder because the original ladder posed a strangulation hazard.
The Creative Playthings Indoor Gym House consists of a hollow, fiberboard-and-wood box 20 inches in height which supports a two-step wooden ladder on one side and a short slide on the opposite side. The top of the box or "platform" serves as a bridge between the ladder and the slide and is protected on two sides by wooden railings.
The product is intended for use by children ages 18 months through 3 l/2 years, according to the manufacturer. It was sold for approximately $29 to $50 in toy stores and other retail outlets nationwide in knocked-down form to be assembled by the owner. The ladder being replaced was manufactured from 1962 through 1979. The gym houses with ladders being replaced are those with "Creative Playthings" printed on the side or with no lettering.
The space between the upper rung of the ladder and the platform was small enough for a child's head to be inserted and become entrapped creating a potential for strangulation. The replacement ladder again being offered by the firm was redesigned to reduce the likelihood of head entrapment.
Creative Playthings urges owners to contact the firm immediately to request, free of charge, a new ladder with instructions for easy installation. Owners who have received a replacement ladder since February 1983 need take no action. To request the replacement ladder, call the firm's toll-free number 800-847-4359 (in New York 800-522-3512), or write to:
| Creative Playthings P.O. Box 306, Route 147 Herndon , PA 17830 |
Creative Playthings is undertaking additional efforts to advise owners to destroy the old ladder and replace it with the redesigned ladder. The firm will send letters and posters to pediatricians and daycare centers throughout the United States, advertise in magazines, provide a public service announcement to major networks, aim a news campaign to consumer affairs editors, and send advisory bulletins to organizations serving parents of young children.
