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Safeguard Your
Child from an Accidental Poisoning
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(ARA) - To a toddler, Motrin
tablets can look a lot like orange M&M's. While many parents
are aware that they need to keep cleaning solutions and pesticides
locked up and away from young children, they often do not realize
the danger posed by the common adult medications they have around
the house.
Of the more than 2 million accidental
poisonings reported to the American Association of Poison Control
Centers every year, more than 1 million of these involved children
under five. Of these exposures, one in three involved a medication;
more than four times the number of poison exposures from household
cleaning solutions.
In the past decade, the number
of medications available to consumers has risen by almost 500
percent, with most home medicine cabinets filled with a dazzling
array of products including vitamins, herbal supplements, prescription
medicines, aspirin and cough syrup. With all this medicine around,
it’s no wonder there is a greater likelihood that a child
may misuse it.
Another contributing factor is
the Graying of America. Seniors are much more active than they
ever have been, and spend a great deal of time with their grandchildren,
often having them stay for extended visits. |
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Many of the medications taken
by older adults are the most dangerous for children, and seniors
may not be in the habit of storing away their medications and
can be caught off guard by curious, active grandchildren.
Unfortunately, children’s
small, growing bodies are more susceptible to toxins. Their systems
cannot process the levels of medication found in adult strength
medications. Common products such as iron supplements and medications
for heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are extremely
unsafe if ingested by children.
The experts suggest parents
and grandparents take the following precautions to prevent accidental
poisonings in the home:
* Be prepared. Since poison remedies
in the home can dramatically decrease the time between ingestion
and treatment, it is important that every home have both syrup
of ipecac and activated charcoal on hand. For example, the Little
Remedies Poison Treatment Kit, available in many retail outlets,
contains both remedies for easy in-home use. However, it is very
important that parents never administer any treatment without
first calling the nearest poison control center or hospital emergency
department for assistance.
Syrup of ipecac is needed for
instances when it is recommended to quickly induce vomiting to
remove the ingested poison from the child’s stomach, such
as vitamins or large pills that take time to break down. However,
in cases where vomiting may cause further damage to the esophagus,
activated charcoal is recommended as the preferred treatment
to adsorb liquid toxins a child has swallowed.
* Store all medications and hazardous
chemicals in labeled, child-resistant containers out of the sight
and reach of children and away from food products. Be very careful
of handbags and suitcases.
*Clean out your medicine cabinet
on a regular basis. Adult-strength iron preparations, vitamins
and supplements and even aspirin can be dangerous for children.
* Stay alert. Children often
think that medicines look like candy. Never refer to medicine
as candy when trying to get a child to swallow it.
* Never take medicine in front
of a child. They may imitate you.
* Children will swallow just
about anything. When in doubt, assume the worst. Never think
a child could not have eaten something because it tastes bad
to you. Children often eat things that are unpalatable to adults.
* Post the following nationwide
number conspicuously by every phone in your home: (800) 222-1222.
This number will connect you to the nearest poison control center.
The time to take precautions
is now, before something happens. Make sure you are prepared
for whatever the children in your life get into. |
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