About twenty years ago, a mother and father brought their eight-year old son into one of my family's arcades. They played games, won tickets and redeemed those tickets for prizes from our redemption center. They took home prizes that were from the prize case marked "These prizes are not suitable for children under three years old."

At home, that eight-year old boy gave those prizes to his three-year old brother to play with. That three-year old boy swallowed a small ball, choked and died. The parents knew what happened and did not blame us. In fact, the newspaper didn't even name our facility. From a business standpoint, we had dodged a bullet that could have shut down that arcade immediately and destroyed that business.

From a human standpoint, our organization was devastated. My family, our partners, the division manager, store managers and support staff - all were emotionally shocked and confused. We questioned ourselves - What did we do wrong? Did we do anything wrong? What could we do? We were determined that this should never happen again.

We decided to remove all choke-able items from our facilities. We bought choke checkers, small plastic tubes used to determine if the size of an item was a safety hazard to small children under three. We checked all our items and removed and returned items to our suppliers, reminding them of our new policy. We contacted our bulk vending company and informed them that they would have to use only the selected, safer non-choke-able items in our stores.

We removed the items, replaced with safer, better products. We accomplished our goal. I was younger then. Less experienced, and not yet a father myself. Time marches on and people change. Managers change jobs, choke checkers get lost. Vendors change, including our bulk vending company.

Recently, a new prize vending machine was delivered to our warehouse. It dispenses a small ball as the small prize. When I saw the ball, I knew immediately that it was a choke-able item. We checked the machine to see if it would dispense a larger ball, but it would not. So I changed the labels, re-percentaged the game and set it to dispense only large prizes.

And then I was casually informed that we had some items that size in our redemption counters; by an employee, that was only with our organization for three years, who did not know the story you've just read. He knows the story now. So we immediately repeated the process executed years ago. We called store managers, sent out choke checkers, checked the merchandise, removed the unsafe material and contacted our suppliers and our bulk vendor. As it was before, this was an operating policy. In a short time, I felt we were as safe as we could be...once again.

But I'm older now. And I am a father, of two wonderful children. And, hopefully, I am more experienced; experienced enough to not want to do this ever again. It seems too much like closing the barn door after the horse has already bolted.

The biggest culprit is the 27 mm or 1-inch ball. Manufacturers must make their equipment dispense a bigger ball, such as a 35 mm ball. The real challenge is that the 27mm ball is cheaper, as it is made with scrap material; the 35 mm ball is four times the cost.

Many companies had discontinued the 27mm ball several years ago, but brought it back in response to increased demand as certain new prize vending machines recommended and used the smaller ball. These machines will need to be retrofitted and

re-percentaged to accommodate the larger, more expensive ball.

Other products pose a risk as well. But the degree of risk is much less. It all comes down to how much risk are you willing to take as an operator. There are many items that could be choke-able. Many boxed toys are sold with a label that states that choke-able small parts are included.

My position is that safety is my first service goal to my guests. If a facility were being run in an unsafe manner, would I want to bring my children there? Of course not! So I choose to eliminate all choke-able items from my redemption operation and my vending.

We need to stop using these products; we need to let our suppliers know that we do not want them in our stores. We need to let the equipment manufacturers know that we cannot use games that dispense dangerous products to our guests. Games that dispense these bullets do not belong in our facilities.

We need to understand that we must self-police our own operations; that we are to blame if we use or sell or dispense these products - just as we would be at fault and to blame if we operated an unsafe ride. We can eliminate the entire problem by design, by simply eliminating the product from our stores. This is a preventable situation.

Using the choke checker needs to be done with some common sense as well. Certain items may fit inside the checker, but because of their composition, will not really pose a choke-able risk. Paper stickers, and stick on earrings, for example, will fit in the tube, but pose a minimal risk.

Candy and other edible items, by their very nature, are intended to go in a child's mouth. Many of these items will fit into the choke checker. You will need to evaluate each item to decide whether it poses a serious risk.

Remember that there are many items available for you to use. Many alternatives can be found to replace items that you deem too risky. It just takes a little more work and time to find them. We have a responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Labels may be what the government requires; but labels won't help those that do not or cannot read.

So get a choke tester - they are easily found on ebay and other online stores. Buy a few, because they can get lost - I know. So pick up your phone, or go to your computer, and order yours today. It's very important.

Check your merchandise and your equipment. Remove the questionable and choke-able items after reviewing them for potential risks. Pull the equipment off the floor until it can be adjusted and/or retrofitted and new, safer product ordered. Check your operation today, because every day counts and you want your business to dodge that bullet.

Michael Getlan is the Director of Enthusiasm and Opportunity! for all of Amusement Consultants Ltd., New Roc Entertainment and Smiles Amusement Co. L.L.C. facilities.

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