What is the name of your state? Fl
Here's is the link to our news story:
http://www.wmbb.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WMBB%2FMGArticle%2FMBB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137835126184&path=!parentalert!
We have since contacted Koala Corp. here is our letter:
We are writing to you in regards to an incident that occurred on Saturday
morning March 25,2006. I took my baby son into a McDonald's located at 241 W.
Central Ave. in Blountstown,Florida. I went into the restroom to change my
son's diaper, using your Koala brand changing table. I laid him on the table
and as I went to strap him in the ENTIRE changing table came out of the wall
slamming my son to the floor. The back part then slammed down over his face,
basically sandwiching him inside. He was not breathing when I picked him up as
the fall (3 1/4 feet to the hard bathroom floor) completely knocked the wind
out of him. We filed a report with McDonald's and took our baby to the ER where
he received a CAT scan. We also took him to his pediatrician. The CAT scan
appeared okay and our doctor said to just watch him closely as a fall like this
onto a hard surface could cause brain trauma in a baby that may not show up for
years.
We have written McDonald's 3 times trying to get answers but have received no
response other than that they will cover any medical bills from this accident.
We finally contacted a local news agency and they did a story on it last night.
McDonald's told the reporter that they leave it up to the individual store as
to the installation and safety maintenance of this baby changing table.
McDonald's said it requires employees to check the bathrooms for cleanliness
every 30 minutes but as for the changing tables, employees will only check if a
customer has a complaint.
We are completely outraged by this! We believe you have a wonderful product and
we are grateful to have the convienance in public restrooms, however, we feel
that there must be routine safety checks in place. Too many things can go
wrong, teenagers can mess with these, people can jump and sit on these and if
no one is required to maintain the product's safety, it puts you and your
product in a dangerous situation. I do not want to sit around and wait for an
infant to be critically or fatally injured due to companies and corporations
being irresponsible. Every parent I have spoken with is shocked and outraged.
Not one parent has ever thought that these were not maintained and that one
could come out of the wall the way it did.
We strongly believe McDonald's did not install the table correctly in the first
place, as you may see by the pictures enclosed, but even moreso, by their own
admission, they do not have a safety policy in place. We are asking you to join
us in demanding any public store or restaurant that uses your tables to not
only make sure that installation is correct and by your standards considered
safe, but also to demand strict safety regulations.
We are not out to get anyone, we just do not want this to happen to another
baby. Please respond as soon as possible.
The news station is still investigating the installation of this particular table, as the McDonald's franchise owner claims to have bought the store 1 yr. ago and has no idea who installed it. McDona'd's has still not contacted us to let us know if they will change their policy regarding these. I have also written to the Consumer product safety commision.
Here's is the link to our news story:
http://www.wmbb.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WMBB%2FMGArticle%2FMBB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137835126184&path=!parentalert!
We have since contacted Koala Corp. here is our letter:
We are writing to you in regards to an incident that occurred on Saturday
morning March 25,2006. I took my baby son into a McDonald's located at 241 W.
Central Ave. in Blountstown,Florida. I went into the restroom to change my
son's diaper, using your Koala brand changing table. I laid him on the table
and as I went to strap him in the ENTIRE changing table came out of the wall
slamming my son to the floor. The back part then slammed down over his face,
basically sandwiching him inside. He was not breathing when I picked him up as
the fall (3 1/4 feet to the hard bathroom floor) completely knocked the wind
out of him. We filed a report with McDonald's and took our baby to the ER where
he received a CAT scan. We also took him to his pediatrician. The CAT scan
appeared okay and our doctor said to just watch him closely as a fall like this
onto a hard surface could cause brain trauma in a baby that may not show up for
years.
We have written McDonald's 3 times trying to get answers but have received no
response other than that they will cover any medical bills from this accident.
We finally contacted a local news agency and they did a story on it last night.
McDonald's told the reporter that they leave it up to the individual store as
to the installation and safety maintenance of this baby changing table.
McDonald's said it requires employees to check the bathrooms for cleanliness
every 30 minutes but as for the changing tables, employees will only check if a
customer has a complaint.
We are completely outraged by this! We believe you have a wonderful product and
we are grateful to have the convienance in public restrooms, however, we feel
that there must be routine safety checks in place. Too many things can go
wrong, teenagers can mess with these, people can jump and sit on these and if
no one is required to maintain the product's safety, it puts you and your
product in a dangerous situation. I do not want to sit around and wait for an
infant to be critically or fatally injured due to companies and corporations
being irresponsible. Every parent I have spoken with is shocked and outraged.
Not one parent has ever thought that these were not maintained and that one
could come out of the wall the way it did.
We strongly believe McDonald's did not install the table correctly in the first
place, as you may see by the pictures enclosed, but even moreso, by their own
admission, they do not have a safety policy in place. We are asking you to join
us in demanding any public store or restaurant that uses your tables to not
only make sure that installation is correct and by your standards considered
safe, but also to demand strict safety regulations.
We are not out to get anyone, we just do not want this to happen to another
baby. Please respond as soon as possible.
The news station is still investigating the installation of this particular table, as the McDonald's franchise owner claims to have bought the store 1 yr. ago and has no idea who installed it. McDona'd's has still not contacted us to let us know if they will change their policy regarding these. I have also written to the Consumer product safety commision.