Honey, I've poisoned the kids! I forgot about poison safety today
You will find loads of information here on poison safety in the home. You cannot afford to skip this step in securing the safety of your family while at home.
People the
world over are poisoned on a daily basis. There are many types of dangers
and many places in which danger lurks.
The greatest risk is to children,
because of the vast array of toxic substances that can be found in every room of
every home, and because of a small child's natural curiosity. What do they know or care about poison safety - to them it is all fun stuff to be played with.
Elderly people are often forgetful and
are unable to remember whether they have taken their medication, and then
they take it again.
Many younger people get involved in
drugs and either overdose, or take something new that doesn't agree with
them. In some cases drugs are given to a victim without their
knowledge. Poison safety is deliberately disregarded.
Sadly, there are also those people who
use poison as a means to deliberately take their own lives.
You cannot do much to protect everyone,
(except perhaps to be observant of the people around you and remind them whenever possible about poison safety in the home), but you can take
active steps to make sure that your home is "poison safe" and as such to secure child safety for any
child, whether your own, or a young visitor.
Keep ALL types of medication,
prescription and non-prescription in a LOCKED cabinet, out of reach of your
child.
Do not leave anything, even vitamins
next to your bed or on counter tops. Toddlers are quite capable of reaching up
or getting themselves on to a stool, to get at items that you thought were out
of their reach.
Do not tell a child that medicine is
“sweetie's” or "candy". They may develop a taste for the flavor
and try to take more of the product on their own.
Avoid taking regular medication in
front of children, they are likely to want to have some as well, usually when
you are not looking and especially if you leave it where they can get hold of
it.
" Never give anybody medicine in the
dark – you could easily give the incorrect quantity.
Make sure that both your and
visitors handbags are placed well away from little hands. Iron tablets, heart
medication and contraceptive pills can often be found in handbags.
Talk to your adult visitors and make sure that they as conscious of poison safety as you are.
Always keep pills and other
medication in the original container.
Don't forget that child-resistant
packaging does not mean that it is childproof.
Do not just throw unused med's away,
or flush them down the toilet. Return them to the pharmacy for safe
disposal. If too many people flush medications and other hazardous
products, into public water-water areas, your, my and everybody else's water
could become contaminated.
Store all Household cleaning
products including washing powders and liquids and aerosol sprays in a top
cupboard. Do not place any cleaning supplies under the sink.
Never put household cleaning
products or chemicals into empty juice or cold-drink bottles.
Keep chemicals in their original
containers and ensure that empty containers are disposed of in a way that no
child can get at them.
Do use safety latches on all
cabinets containing hazardous substances.
When visiting a bachelor friend ((men are never quite as poison safety orientated as women), my husband
and I did not notice that our infant had crawled into the kitchen, until
he let out an ear-splitting shriek. He had found the drain-cleaner,
without a lid, under the sink, in an open cupboard. I spent 10 minutes
washing his mouth out before rushing off to the poison center.
Fortunately, no damage was done.
Do not think that because your home is safe, everybody
else cares about of poison safety.
If you are visiting someone, ask about poison safety
in their home.
Keep all bottles of alcohol in a securely locked
cupboard. Don't forget that even mouthwash contains alcohol, as does food
extract such as vanilla essence.
Keep a close eye on your toddler at
parties. They love to wander around and take mouthfuls from unattended
glasses.
My eldest son got blind drunk and passed out, at
the age of 18 months, because it never occurred to me that he was happily
emptying glasses of their alcoholic contents at a party that we were
holding. His younger brother did the same thing at 14 years of age.
In all honesty, I never realised that my precious baby may have suffered from alcohol poisoning because of that incident, in fact I didn't even know that there was such a thing as alcohol poisoning, let alone poison safety.
Do not use any children's items such
as baby cots, high chairs and wood toys made and painted during or before the
1970’s. The paint used, often contained high levels of lead.
Items such as perfume, hair dye,
hair spray, nail and shoe polish and nail varnish remover as well as general
cosmetics should all be kept out of reach of your little person
Keep motor-car and gardening
products in a securely locked area.
Avoid spraying pesticides indoors,
especially in the kitchen and in children's bedrooms. Carpets in particular
become a catchment area for pesticides.
Make sure that pesticides, plant
food and weed killers are securely locked away.
If you are obliged make use of any
pesticides or household chemicals, remove children, toys and pets from the
area and keep them away for as long as possible or as recommended on the
product label.
Never place rodent, snail or insect
baits where small children or animals can get at them.
Many house and garden plants are
poisonous. Keep curious little fingers away from ALL plants.
Carbon monoxide is produced by the
incomplete burning of fuels e.g. gas, wood, petrol. You cannot smell it. Think poison safety. Install Carbon Monoxide detectors in your home.
If you can smell gas, turn all
burners, stoves and gas heaters off, open windows and doors and leave the
house.
Make sure that your boiler and gas
fire are serviced regularly to help prevent the possibility of carbon monoxide
poisoning.
Make sure that bedrooms are
adequately ventilated. Do not block chimneys, or air vents.
Check smoke and carbon monoxide
detectors regularly.
No person or animal should
be in a garage, whether the door is closed or not, when the car engine is
running, the exhaust fumes can kill.
Please remember that in all instances of poisoning, the Poison
Control Center will be able to help you quickly if you have the following
information ready:
Your name and phone number.
The name, age, weight, and health
status of the child or adult who has been poisoned.
Type of product e.g. gas, fumes,
pills, bee sting etc. Read the brand name, where applicable, as it is written
on the label. Include the list of ingredients and the company name and contact
number, if it is available.
Amount of product involved in
poisoning.
Time of poisoning.
What signs have been noted.
Any initial first aid measures
taken.
Your location and how far you are
from an emergency medical facility.
The following articles will give you more detailed
information on what to do in the event of a poisoning incident occurring in your
home:
People the
world over are poisoned on a daily basis. There are many types of dangers
and many places in which danger lurks.
