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Office of Information and Public Affairs |
Washington, DC 20207 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Nancy Sachs |
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December 6, 1994 |
(301) 504-7648 |
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Release # 95-042 |
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Ann Brown today announced that a nine-month-old baby girl of Baltimore recently died in a bath ring. A caregiver was bathing the little girl and another child when the caregiver left for a few minutes to check on a noise in another room. She returned to find that the baby, who had slid under the ring, drowned in the bath water. Since 1989 CPSC has received 17 reports, including this most recent death, that children between 5 and 12 months of age drowned in bath seats and rings.
NEVER LEAVE A BABY IN A BATH SEAT OR BATH RING WITHOUT CONSTANT ADULT SUPERVISION. ALL LEVELS OF WATER ARE DANGEROUS FOR BABIES. ALWAYS KEEP THE BABY AT ARM'S REACH.
CPSC Chairman Ann Brown said, "Bath seats and rings may make caregivers believe that a baby is in a relatively safe environment. Any such belief can have devastating consequences because these products -- regardless of how sturdy they look -- will not prevent drowning. And babies can drown very quickly if they are left alone in a bathtub, with or without a bath seat or ring."
This press release expresses the views of CPSC Chairman Ann Brown, and not the official position of CPSC as a whole.