Poison Prevention

How to Keep your Children Safe

By Dr. Larry Nickens, Goldsboro Pediatrics

Poison prevention is a necessity, even more so when there are children’s lives to protect. Poison can come in many forms from everyday items such as household cleaners and cosmetics to outdoor items such as kerosene or pesticides. Awareness and prevention are the first steps to keeping your children safe from poison.

Children are at great risk for unintentional poisoning. According to the American Association of Poison Control (www.aapcc.org), 50.7% of poison exposures occur in children under the age of six. The American Association of Poison Control also states that the most common form of poison exposure for those children is cosmetics and personal care products. Children are curious by nature and learn new things by touch, taste and smell. Thus they will touch, taste and smell everything. What might not be poisonous to an adult can be very harmful to a child. Here is some basic information to learn in order to ensure you and your family safe from poisonous substances.

What are poisons?
Poisons are substances that through a chemical action can kill, injure, or impair a living thing. Poisons are harmful to both adults and children.

Most common poisons among children
According to the National Capital Poison Center (www.poison.org) these are the most common poisons among children.

• Cosmetics and Personal Care Products
• Cleaning Substances
• Pain Medicine
• Coins
• Thermometers
• Plants
• Diaper Care, Acne Preparations, Antiseptics
• Cough and Cold Medicine
• Pesticides
• Vitamins
• Arts, Crafts, and Office Supplies
• Antihistamines
• Hydrocarbons

What can I do at home?

Poison prevention starts in the home. Safeguarding your home could help to prevent poisons from ever occurring. First get down on a child’s level and crawl around your house making sure all hazards are removed. Have safety locks placed on all cabinets. Store potential poisons out of sight and out of reach from children. Remove cosmetics, medication, and other such items from bedside dressers and low drawers. Store medicines and household products in their original containers. Use child- resistant packaging, and replace the caps tightly after using a product. Install a carbon monoxide alarm. Never let children be first to open arriving mail or shipping containers. Never leave purses that contain medications or other potentially dangerous substances unattended. Never store food and household cleaning products together. Never transfer products like kerosene, gasoline or household cleaning agents to another container. Following these basic tips can possibly save your child’s life.

What are some signs and symptoms of a poisoning?
There are various signs and symptoms that can take place if a poisoning has happened. If you’re unsure if a poisoning has occurred first look for burns or redness around the mouth and lips, which is a result from ingesting a poisonous substance. Also check the victim’s breath to see if it smells like any certain chemical, such as gasoline. Check for burns and stains on or around the person. Vomiting, difficulty breathing, confusion, and sleepiness are other signs that need to be checked for incase of a poisoning.

What to do if a poisoning occurs.
If a poisoning occurs remain calm and in control of the situation. If the victim has collapsed or is not breathing call 911 immediately. If the victim is alert and awake call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. The respondents for the center will need to know the victim’s age and weight, the container or bottle of the poison if possible, the time of the poison exposure and the address of the residence.

What’s a good way to teach children about poisons?
A good method for poison prevention for children is to go to a local office supply store and purchase colored stickers. Using the stickers place them on things that could possibly be poisonous. Teach your child that if the colored sticker is on something that means he or she is not allowed to touch it. It is off limits. This is a great way to safeguard your home and teach your children what’s not safe.