rWaf-fVt Com-
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, On March 30, 2011 the Chicago Tribune ran an investigative article on infant deaths that appear to be related to crib bumper pads and the lack of government action so far on this critical issue; and .
WHEREAS, Crib bumper pads were originally created to protect infants from having their heads wedged between crib slats; and
WHEREAS, This precautionary measure no longer became necessary, when in the 1970s, laws mandated that crib slats be placed closer together in order to avoid this type of injury to infants; and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, from 1985 through 2005, twenty-seven infant deaths by suffocation or strangulation were associated with crib bumper pads; and
WHEREAS, Death-scene investigations attributed eleven deaths to the infant's face being pressed against a bumper pad, thirteen deaths attributable to the infant being wedged between the bumper pad and another object and three deaths attributable to a bumper pad tie being caught around the infant's neck; and
WHEREAS, Families with infants in the City of Chicago would significantly benefit from further government investigations into infant deaths by suffocation and their possible link to crib bumper pads; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled this thirteenth day of April, 2011, do hereby call upon appropriate representatives of the City of Chicago's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, representatives of the juvenile furniture industry, SIDS Alliance and other interested parties to appear before the City Council Committee on Health to discuss what steps the City of Chicago can take to prevent infant crib deaths due to suffocation from bumper pads.
James A. Balcer Alderman, 11th Ward