Health Canada has issued a major product recall of nearly 30,000 Graco brand strollers and issued a wide public warning about strollers with hinge mechanisms after revealing it has received reports of serious injuries involving other strollers with hinge mechanisms.
The move comes as the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission announced it was recalling 1.5 million of the strollers after five children had their fingertips amputated and two were lacerated by the hinges on the stroller's canopy. A child's finger can get caught in the hinge mechanism when the canopy is being opened or closed.
The news is throwing the safety of many popular strollers into question and raises concerns that the design of folding strollers may be fundamentally flawed. In fact, U.S. officials said they are now examining all strollers that have a hinge mechanism to determine whether more action needs to be taken.
Graco posted a video on YouTube demonstrating how to attach a canopy hinge cover for its Alano, Spree and Passage strollers.
The announcement comes weeks after a similar recall involving Maclaren brand strollers after a dozen reports of finger tip amputations in the United States. One Canadian child was lacerated by the stroller, Health Canada said, when the recall was announced in November.
The new recall involves Graco Children's Products Inc. strollers distributed in Canada by Elfe Juvenile Products and sold under the names Passage, Alano and Spree. Health Canada has not received any reports of injuries involving Graco brand strollers, but said on Wednesday that it has several reports of injuries linked to other strollers with hinge mechanisms.
In addition, the Graco strollers being recalled have been linked to seven serious injuries in the U.S.
Health Canada said 28,430 of the strollers were sold across Canada from 2004 to 2010.
The department also issued a wider warning to the public about using strollers with hinges, saying they pose risk of lacerations, amputations, as well as cuts and bruising. Officials have received 22 reports of injury to parents or children involving the strollers since 2000. Of those injuries, five involved fingertip amputations, lacerations and bone fractures.
Parents are being advised to make sure their children are far away from strollers when they're being opened or closed.
Consumer advocates have criticized Health Canada for failing to recognize problems with the strollers more quickly. It took days for the department to issue a recall of the Maclaren strollers after U.S. officials conducted a recall and reports of fingertip amputations surfaced.
Health Canada issued the recall late Wednesday afternoon and didn't immediately return calls seeking more information.