No matter how much we try to educate ourselves and our kids about health and safety, it's a sad fact of life that serious illnesses and accidents are going to happen.  When they do, we can only hope that a child gets the best health care possible.  One institution that has been singularly dedicated to children for more than 80 years is the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

I'm writing about the Shriners because I had occasion to speak with one of their doctors last week -- one of the preeminent pediatric burn doctors in the nation.  I can only imagine what this doctor sees on a day-to-day basis, and it brings up the larger point about what Shriners does and how they do it.  Shriners has 22 hospitals, all dedicated to taking care of children.  They treat children up to age 18 for serious orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries (SCI) and cleft palate and lip conditions.  And the amazing thing -- they do this all at no charge and without regard to financial need.

One of the important things I'd like to do with this site is provide a place where parents can get quick, easy access to recall information for children's products.  Up-to-date recalls will be posted, and eventually we'll have a sign-up for a monthly or weekly electronic newsletter that will, among other things, contain current recall information. 

But what is a recall of a consumer product such as a toy or child safety seat?  A recall is a corrective action by a company with regard to a product that it has discovered may be unreasonably dangerous to users.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has jurisdiction over toys and child safety seats sold in the United States, as well as other consumer products such as household appliances, sporting equipment and furnaces.  It does not have jurisdiction over motor vehicles, drugs, pesticides or medical devices (other government agencies have jurisdiction over those).