At any age, children can become very sick when they come into contact with multiple household products, medicines, chemicals and outdoor pesticides. The best way to avoid poison emergencies is prevention. All dangerous items should be locked up and out of reach. It is also important to store medicines, household products and chemicals in their original containers.
Use safety latches on drawers and cabinets where you keep dangerous objects. Many of these chemicals and medicines can look identical to common beverages and candy to young children. The most dangerous household products include medicines, cleaning products, anti-freeze, pesticides, furniture polish and gasoline.
For swallowed poisons, you always want to stay calm and act quickly. Get any of the potential poison away from your child and remove it with your fingers if there is some potential poison in your child’s mouth. If your child is unconscious or having any abnormal breathing or convulsions, call 911 immediately. If your child does not have any of these symptoms, call the poison control at 800-222-1222.
For poisons involving the skin, remove your child’s clothes and rinse the skin with room temperature water for at least 15 minutes. Again, call poison control at 800-222-1222. It is not recommended to use any ointments, Vaseline or grease.
For poisons involving the eye, flush your child’s eye by holding the eyelid open and pouring a steady stream of room temperature water into the inner corner of the eye for 15 minutes. If another adult is not around to help, wrap your child tightly in a towel and clamp your child with one arm. After rinsing the eye, again call poison control at 800-222-1222.
For poisons involving inhalation of fumes or gases, it is important to have your child breathe fresh air immediately. If your child has any difficulty breathing or has stopped breathing, perform CPR and call 911 immediately.
For more information, please contact SC Pediatrics at 661-253-4971.