Playground Equipments Repaired by Pixieland NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 Note: Firm is out of business. Do not use these products. Please discard or destroy these products. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Originally issued December 5, 1983; Revised July 10, 2001 Release # 83-062 Pixieland To Repair Potentially Hazardous Playground Equipment Washington, D.C.-- In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Pixieland, Incorporated, Swainsboro I Georgia, today announced a voluntary repair program on five different models of its metal playground equipment which may present head entrapment hazards to children. The products involved are the Double Climber Slide, Single Climber Slide, Toddler Climber, Fence Climber and Rainbow Climber. The five models of metal playground equipment, which range in cost from approximately $85 to $450, are intended for use by pre-school children, and are sold to day care centers, child care centers and other similar facilities. The spacing between some of the rungs on these five models pose a potential entrapment hazard because they are wide enough to allow a child's body to pass all the way through, but are too narrow for the head to follow. Consequently, a child could be hung, with his head trapped between the rungs and his feet off the ground. This could result in head injuries, neck injuries, or strangulation. All spacings ranging from 4.5 inches to 7.5 inches represent potential entrapment hazards. The Commission has investigated three incidents in which children's heads became entrapped between the rungs on these playground structures. One victim received contusions and abrasions to the neck and head, while another victim had to be resuscitated because his breathing and pulse had been stopped. Pixieland has been manufacturing these playground structures since 1978, with distribution to 21 states east of the Rockies. In 1978, the firm began to