- Knowledgebase: Child Safety, Injury Prevention and Treatment
- Questions about child safety and injury prevention, as well as treatment for minor injuries.
- 40. Poisoning Prevention - Top
- Each year, unintentional poisonings from medicines and household chemicals kill about 30 children and prompt more than 1 million calls to the nation's poison control centers, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. National Poison Prevention Week, (March 19-25), aims to help prevent those childhood poisonings and make caregivers aware of the dangers around their homes. Poisonings can be prevented.
The three most important safety messages to prevent poisonings are:
Use child-resistant packaging because it saves lives
Keep medicines and household chemicals locked up out of reach and out of sight
of young children because some children can open child-resistant packaging
Keep the poison control center number next to your telephone and call
immediately if a poisoning occurs
The CPSC requires child- resistant packaging for 28 categories of medicines and household chemicals. It has been reported that special packaging for aspirin and oral prescription medicine has saved the lives of about 800 children since the 1970s. However, it is important to remember that child-resistant packaging is not childproof.
Follow these basic poison prevention tips:
Use child-resistant packaging properly by closing the container securely after use.
1.Keep all chemicals and medicines locked up and out of sight.
2.Call the poison center immediately in case of poisoning. Keep on hand a
bottle of "syrup of ipecac" but use it only if the poison center instructs you to
induce vomiting.
3.When products are in use, never let young children out of your sight, even if
you must take them along when answering the phone or doorbell.
4.Keep items in original containers.
5.Leave the original labels on all products, and read the label before using.
6.Do not put decorative lamps and candles that contain lamp oil where
children can reach them.
7.Always leave the light on when giving or taking medicine. Check the
dosage every time.
8.Avoid taking medicine in front of children. Refer to medicine as "medicine,"
not "candy."
9.Clean out the medicine cabinet periodically and safely dispose of unneeded
and outdated medicines.
*To get a free packet of poison prevention publications, write to: "Poison Prevention Packet," CPSC, Washington, DC 20207.
If your child does injest or get poison on them, there are steps you can take to treat your child. First, always call the Poison Control Center (check your phone book). Only call 911 or your local emergency number if your child is unconscious. By treating poisoning in the home instead of the emergency room, poison centers save the United States $350 million annually.
If poison is swallowed: Never try to make the child vomit unless you are told to do so by a doctor or the Poison Control Center.
Give the child nothing by mouth (such as syrup of ipecac) unless you are instructed to do so.
If poison is inhaled: Move the child into fresh air. Avoid breathing fumes.
Open doors and windows wide.
If needed, start rescue breathing techniques.
For poison on the skin:
Remove any clothing that has the poison on it.
Flood the skin with water for 15 minutes.
Wash the skin gently with soap and water; then rinse.
For poison in the eye:
Fill a large glass with lukewarm water.
Flood the eye with water from the glass held two or three inches above the eye.
Do this for 15 minutes. - Updated: March 8, 2001
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