Mirage Fashions recalled Yoki Girls Faux Leather Jackets with drawstrings on December 16th, 2013 due to hazards posed by the coats. The coats have been recalled because of the danger to children they pose due to the presence of a drawstring in the neck portion of the coat that could foreseeably lead to strangulation or entanglement.
The jackets were exclusively available for sale at Burlington Coat Factory nationwide from January 2012 through August 2013 for $20. The recall is limited to size 7-16 girl’s faux leather jackets with a front facing zipper and can be identified by a Yoki Girl’s label on the neck of the coat. These coats have drawstrings through the neck area of the coat, which bears a hood. The style number JK25O3G identifies these coats as well and can be located on a label on the lower left inside seam of the coats that have recalled.
There are federal regulations in place that govern the use of drawstrings in children’s clothing. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued guidelines since 1996 about drawstrings in children’s upper outerwear and those guidelines in July 2011 were incorporated into a federal regulation dealing with children’s clothing. These regulations were put into effect to help prevent children from being strangled or entangled due to drawstrings.
There have not been any reports of injuries associated with this particular coat, however consumers are cautioned and should immediately remove the drawstring to eliminate the hazard or return the garment. Mirage Fashions is providing full refunds on the recalled item.
Though there have yet to be any reported incidents involving this coat the danger posed by drawstrings in children’s coats are serious. Young children have been seriously injured and even died from upper outerwear catching or snagging on other objects. Between January 1985 and September 2009, CPSC is aware of 18 deaths and 38 non-fatal injuries that involved neck/hood drawstrings on children’s outerwear. A common occurrences among the reported incidents involved the drawstrings getting caught in a gap or spacing on a playground slide or a long drawstring becoming caught in a closed door of a moving school bus.
When a parent places a coat on their child they shouldn’t have to worry about whether that jacket is going to cause harm to their child. If you or a loved one has a child that has been injured as a result of drawstrings on an article of children’s outerwear please call us today!
