The Reality of Poisoning

The Reality of Poisoning

As parents, grandparents, and child-care providers we all want to keep our children safe and secure, allowing them to live their full potential.  Prevention and knowledge of the leading cause of childhood injury; poisoning is a step toward reaching this goal. In the United States, everyday 300 children between the ages 0 to 19 are treated in the emergency department, two children die, as a result of being poisoned. It’s not just the chemicals in our home marked with clear warning labels that can be dangerous to children.

Everyday items in your home, such as household cleaners and medicines, can be poisonous to children as well. Active, curious children will often investigate; sometimes try to eat or drink anything that they can get into. Many household cleaners and medicines look like harmless items; candy, food, juice, or other type of beverage.

Pills look like candy

Cleaning products look like beverages 

Cleaning products look like food

Thankfully, there are ways you can help poison-proof your home and protect the children you love.

Prevention Tips

Lock them up. Keep medicines and toxic products, such as cleaning solutions, in their original packaging where children can’t see or get them.

Know the number. Put the national poison control center phone number, 1-800-222-1222, on or near every telephone in your home and program it into your cell phone. Call the poison control center if you think a child has been has been poisoned, they can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call 911 if you have a poison emergency, if your child has collapsed or is not breathing.

Read the label. Follow label directions and read all warnings when giving medicines to children.

Don’t keep it if you don’t need it. Safely dispose of unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs and over the counter drug, vitamins, and supplements. To dispose of medicines, remove all identifying information, mix them with coffee grounds, kitty litter, soil, and water, and throw them away. You can also turn them in at a local take back program or during National Drug Take Back events.

Hand Sanitizer

What is hand sanitizer?

Hand sanitizer, such as Purell and Bath & Body Works are products for cleaning your hands when you don’t have soap and water. They kill germs, like viruses and bacteria, help to prevent the spread of colds and flu. Some brands of hand sanitizer use a form of alcohol to kill germs, while others use different chemicals.  Young children sometimes swallow hand sanitizer by getting into the bottle or licking it off their hands. Many of the new products come in different scents that are appealing to small children to try to taste because of the smell. Some people, especially teens, drink hand sanitizer on purpose for the alcohol. They can often find the instructions online for “distilling” the alcohol.

Dangers of hand sanitizers

If used correctly hand sanitizers are a safe method for preventing the spread of germs. Someone who swallows a lot of hand sanitizer with alcohol in it may show signs of being drunk, have trouble walking and talking. However, hand sanitizer taste bad and irritates the mouth, which keeps most people from drinking a harmful amount. Getting hand sanitizer in your eyes can also be painful.

What to do if someone may be poisoned by hand sanitizer

Call your local Poison Control Center if you have questions about hand sanitizer, whether someone has swallowed some, splashed in the eyes with, or if you just want information, 1-800-222-1222

If someone has swallowed hand sanitizer, we can help you figure out how much the person drank, what symptoms you may see and how to treat them. If someone gets hand sanitizer in their eyes, we will help your figure out if they need to flush their eyes and can tell you how to do it the right away.

Methods to prevent hand sanitizer poisoning

·         Use alcohol-free sanitizer when you can

·         Keep hand sanitizer out of reach of children

·         Keep hand sanitizer in the original container

·         Keep an eye on children when they use hand sanitizer

Medication Safety-Grandparent's Homes

The average number of poisonings occurring in children is accidental. In general, all adults have some form of over –the –counter medication in their homes. The ratio of prescription drugs in the home is 79% of parents and 85% of grandparents. Over one-third of the accidental poisonings involve children involve getting into their grandparents mediation. Unfortunately, older adults are most likely to have health issues, requiring the need for prescription and over-the-counter medications. A majority of these medications will be stored in open sight and easy access for small children through the use of none child-resistance containers.  The general goal for older adults taking medication is to have easy access as a reminder to take their medication. Pill minders are handy tools to help people to remember to take their medication. But unfortunately this is easy access to a small child.

Health issues concerns in older adults cannot be corrected in addition to the need for medications for treatment. The challenge is providing education to the parents and grandparents on need for safe storage and inaccessibility to small children. Making the environment safe for the children is the main objective. Child-resistance packaging is a method used as deterring the small child. Storage and location is the another important contributing to child safety. Understandably some adults have arthritis or other conditions making it difficult to open the containers. This is the reason may choose to have easy to open medication containers. If this is the case it is important to know the container is closed and stored in a safe location. There is pill-minder boxes in which have child resistance packaging might be a preferable choice over easy to open containers. Small children are explorers and have a tendency to find everything a parent or grandparent wishes they wouldn't.

Just because something mentions it is child resistance does not mean it is child proof. Small children are geniuses when it comes to the containers and can figure out after several attempts how to get into the package. The use of child resistance products serves as a step in deterring children, it is the adult’s responsibility to limit the access and promote safety. Medication storage is another aspect of the battle in prevention of accidental poisoning. Medication needs to be kept out of reach of children, prescription and over-the-counter.  Grandparents and older adults should not leave the medication on the bathroom sink, bedside table, kitchen table, or counter. Children are curious and will explore these areas, how many times have you noticed your child going for something in plain sight. Suggestions for storage could include a lockbox, top of the refrigerator, or cupboard a child does not have access to.  Grandparents should also be careful with medications stored in their purses. Children are always looking for something good, and most of the time grandma has gum or some other treat in her purse. Another concern is medication left in suitcases when visiting a relative; this provides another easy access point for children. Older grandchildren factor in the equation to when it comes to medication storage and accessibility. Grandparents may be accidental suppliers for children looking to experiment with medication (pain killers).

Safety:

• Store medications out of reach from children
• Child-resistant containers
• Store medication in original containers, recycle or dispose of old one (This allows for a pill count)
• Grandparents and parents look over the area before leaving children unsupervised, make sure all medication is out of reach and no medication is on the floor.

What to do is a child ingests a medication

• Is the child okay? Choking? Breathing? If there is problem call 911.
• Do not induce vomiting. (This is no longer recommend along with the use of ipecac syrup)
• Take the child and the medication to the phone
• Take a deep breath, Call Poison Control Center, 1-800-222-1222 for help, the specialist may save you and your loved one an unnecessary trip to the Emergency room.
• Answer all the questions the specialists (nurse, pharmacist, MD) ask, this helps determine the recommendations for treatment.

Types of ingestions from calls at grandparents homes

• Over the counter medications; acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, vitamins
• Prescription medications; Pain medication (Morphine, Vicodin), Blood pressure medications (Ace-inhibitors-Lisnopril, captopril; beta-blockers-metoprolol, atenolol; calcium channel blockers-amlodipine, isradipine), Diabetic medication (sulfonylureas- Glucotrol, Micronase; Biguanides-Metformin)

Medications all have serious potential to harm a small child depending on the dosage and the amount ingested. Child safety is always a major concern, the best method is education and prevention.

Poison danger in the home.

Dangers of accidental poisoning in the home, school, or work is one of the greatest risks for children, pets, or other loved ones. The risk of getting injured increases with the risk of access to the products in the environment, no area is completely child proof. Children have the greatest risks for unintentional poisoning in the home, they are smaller, faster, curious, and more susceptible to the toxins in their home or elsewhere. Children have the natural curiosity and desire to explore increase the potential for harm depending on the environment. A small child learning to climb on chairs demonstrates the risk of exposure to poisons on the counter, cupboards, or closets.

What types of poison do children have a tendency to get into? Most common include household and personal care products, medicine, vitamins, and plants. Other concerns can include lead, carbon monoxide, and other environmental factors. The risk of poisoning to the child depends on the packaging, accessibility, availability, formulation, and the toxicity to the product. The risk of injury decreases with parent awareness, education for prevention and safety, and appropriate interventions by contacting the poison control centers and health providers. The risk of injury decreases with child-resistant packaging, product reformation, and increased parent awareness are key factors for reducing the risk of exposure. 

Changes in health care require the need for prevention to reduce the number of unnecessary trips to the emergency room, urgent care, or health care provider. Health care should focus prevention, illness visits, well child visits, yearly physicals and what can be done to promote the health of the individual. Not everyone is fortunate to have insurance to meet these needs, that is why valuable resources such as the Poison Control Center, Ask a Nurse, and Health Coach can help decrease health care expenses. A visit to the emergency room can cause financial hardship on an individual and family

This blog will focus on providing information and direction on information for prevention of accidental poisoning and resources to parents, health care provider, or other individuals with questions. 

Call your local poison control center- 1-800-222-1222, the national hot line number, it will connect the you directly to your local poison control center based on your area code.

Ask for a free information kit (Lit Kit), magnet, stickers, and informative brochures (poison prevention, toxic plants)

One free tidbit- the poison control center provides free information at no charge to your insurance, the information collected is confidential, and used to help make products safer for our children.