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WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2000 -- After a survey found
unsafe cribs and playbrounds in 80 percent of hotels and motels,
the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign have announced a crib
and play yard safety initiative to keep children safe when
traveling with their families.
Bass Hotels & Resorts, which includes the Inter-Continental,
Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Crowne
Plaza brands is joining the new safety initiative. CPSC invited
24 national hotel chains to participate in the safety initiative,
but only Bass Hotels & Resorts agreed.
CPSC and SAFE KIDS are encouraging other hotels and motels
to participate and have prepared safety information that they
can use to ensure their cribs are not hazardous.
Bass Hotels & Resorts will provide additional training
for staff and hold a "Crib Safety Week" where each
hotel's housekeeping and maintenance staff will conduct a
thorough inspection of all cribs and play yards.
The ongoing inspections will help ensure that the cribs and
play yards meet current safety standards, are in good repair
and have not been recalled. Bass Hotels & Resorts also
plans to include crib safety information in hotel publications
and on its website, and promote crib safety in media events
targeted to begin around Mother's Day. The company has 2,800
hotels worldwide, including more than 1,300 in the United
States.
Many traveling families use cribs and play yards provided
by motels and hotels. Estimates show that children under age
2 spend more than 7 million nights per year in hotels, motels
and resorts. CPSC estimates that there are about 65,000 hotels
and motels in the U.S.
SAFE KIDS recently visited 90 hotels and motels in 27 states
and the District of Columbia. Of the cribs inspected, 82 percent
had at least one safety hazard, including loose hardware or
lack of secured mattress supports that could entrap a baby;
soft bedding, including quilts, comforters or pillows that
could cause suffocation; and adult- sized sheets that pose
a strangulation and suffocation hazard.
Of the play yards and mesh cribs inspected, 52 percent had
at least one safety hazard, including tears or holes in the
meshing, which pose an entrapment risk to babies, and soft
bedding.
The SAFE KIDS spot check gives a snapshot of what consumers
might find while traveling.
Each year, about 40 babies suffocate or strangle in their
cribs when they become trapped between broken crib parts or
in cribs with older, unsafe designs. Soft bedding such as
quilts, comforters or pillows can suffocate a baby. As many
as 3,000 infants die each year from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
(SIDS) and up to one-third of these may have suffocated on
soft bedding.
CPSC recommends that a baby under 12 months be put to sleep
in a crib on his or her back with no soft bedding. Adult sheets
should never be used in a crib because they pose a strangulation
and suffocation risk to babies. Hotels and motels should provide
fitted crib sheets in good condition that fit the mattress
securely.
"Whether the hotel is on 5th Avenue or Main Street,
there's no guarantee the crib you request will be safe and
in good repair," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "Parents
who are traveling should not have to worry about the place
they put their child down to sleep. I'm pleased that Bass
Hotels and Resorts is joining this safety campaign. I'm very
disappointed that other hotels are not participating."
Heather Paul, Executive Director of the National SAFE KIDS
Campaign, said: "This informal assessment simply raises
a red flag for the hotel industry that they might unknowingly
be putting babies at risk. We want hotels to know there are
simple steps they can take to help ensure a safe sleeping
environment for their youngest guests."
Thomas R. Oliver, Chairman and CEO of Bass Hotels & Resorts,
said: "The safety of all of our guests has always been
one of the foundations of our business. We are committed to
taking the necessary steps to help ensure that the cribs in
use at our properties around the world are safe for our youngest
guests."
CPSC and SAFE KIDS have prepared information that hotels
and motels, as well as consumers, can use to make sure cribs
and play yards are not hazardous. The information will be
made available to hotels and motels to help them develop their
own safety programs. Local SAFE KIDS chapters will distribute
a crib safety checklist to hotels and motels around the country.
Hotels and motels can download the crib and play yard safety
inspection checklist and CPSC crib safety and recall information
here or by calling the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
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