More than one million children under the age of 6 are poisoned each year as a result of accidents. Certainly, emergency room physicians like Josyann Abisaab who have to deal with these poisonings urge parents to be vigilant in the home. Here’s how.
Make sure to purchase child safety tops on all medicines and chemicals, whenever possible. Lock up caustic cleaners so that children can’t reach them – but keep in mind to also secure vitamins and mouthwashes, as these can also poison children. Vitamins with iron can be toxic to kids and mouthwashes can be poisonous from the alcohol content.
Don’t ever store chemicals in a familiar food container. For instance, don’t put your antifreeze in a soda bottle or your paint thinner in an ice cream container. Keep all vitamins, medicines, liquor, cleaning products, pesticides and fertilizers locked and in their original packaging. Keep toiletries out of a child’s reach and make sure to flush expired medicines down the toilet, rather than throwing them in a wastebasket.
Post numbers in an obvious place for the poison-control center and keep activated charcoal or ipecac syrup on hand. Make sure not to give your child the ipecac syrup, however, without speaking to your doctor or to poison control first.
