Gov't Recalls 'Dive Sticks'

They've been a part of backyard fun for the past 20 years, reports CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes. And getting the millions of kids who still play with dive sticks to get rid of them might not be easy, even in light of a national recall.

That's what worries Cherilyn Poulsen, whose daughter was impaled on a dive stick at her 6th birthday party.

"My husband pulled my daughter out of the pool and said, 'honey she's bleeding,'" says Poulsen. "And that was the first time I knew anything of a serious nature had taken place."

Poulsen says her daughter could have died; the stick just missed a major artery. Six children have been rectally or vaginally impaled or lacerated by the sticks nationwide. The sticks are between four and eight-inches long, cylinder or shark-shaped.

Manufacturers are voluntarily agreeing to the recall, but some say the sticks were misused when the children were hurt.

Dive stick manufacturer Lee Tager says, "All of these accidents occurred in kiddie pools, in 12 to 18 inches of water. In my opinion, putting a warning on those things to say don't use them in shallow water and use them under supervision, they're usable."

But the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is so convinced the sticks are a danger, it's also banning their sale. In the past decade they've only banned three other products.

Anne Brown of the CPSC says, "Imagine a child doing a cannonball off the side and landing on one of these dive sticks. That's how these horrible impalements happen."

It's a vivid image that has already reached toy stores. A random check finds major sellers have already pulled the dive sticks off the shelves.

Other CPSC recalls announced Thursday:

• Snugli Front & Back Packs with vertical "T" straps. At least 13 children have slipped through the leg openings of the carrier, including one who suffered a fractured skull.
• Star Wars Lightsabers. CPSC received 38 reports about such toys with batteries that overheated. Three users were burned. About 600,000 of these toys are being recalled, including the Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn series.