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Poisons a threat, education key

Published Wednesday, February 22, 2012 11:46 AM

Provided By Roper St. Francis


Kids are a blessing, but they can be precocious – and extremely mobile. When people say their young ones “get into everything” it’s usually a phrase of amusement at their offspring’s boundless energy.

There are real risks associated with kids’ exploratory natures, however, and some of the biggest threats reside in our homes in the form of household poisons. That truth will be highlighted March 18-24 during Poison Prevention Week.

Cosmetics, cleaning substances and plants are among the most common products ingested by children, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC). Beyond that, tens of thousands of kids under the age of six are improperly exposed to medicines each year.

Those products, like other ingested poisons, primarily do damage to the mouth, esophagus and stomach. Most poisonrelated burn injuries, according to the AAPCC, are caused by exposure to acid and alkali, which are commonly found in toilet bowl, pool and oven cleaners.

Additional threats include lead paints, exposure to drinking water with high levels of lead and materials used by caregivers for hobbies such as pottery glazing. If a child ingests these materials, his or her body must be decontaminated to avoid serious injury that could include tissue damage.

Studies have shown that the majority of poisonings in younger children are generally attributable to kids being left unattended around poisons, improper poison storage or therapeutic error. Nearly 60 percent of exposures occur in kids younger than six.

Experts say implementing safety measures and focusing on family education are musts when it comes to reducing toxic exposures.

Some suggested efforts include:

-Storing poisons and medication out of reach and locked away in appropriately marked containers.

-Discarding old medications and not combining medications in a single bottle.

-Storing cleaning products in original containers.

-Other recommendations include teaching safety habits to the entire family, not referring to medication as candy and remembering that caps are merely child-resistant, not childproof.

If you even think your child might have ingested a medicine or household poison, immediately call the Palmetto Poison Center at (800) 922-1117. The center, located in Columbia, is South Carolina’s lone AAPPC facility and is available to provide assistance for poison exposure on a 24-7 basis. (The facility is also in high demand, reporting more than 37,000 poison-related calls annually.)

Should you have to take your child to the hospital, Roper St. Francis has five emergency facilities throughout the Lowcountry staffed with trained professionals equipped to deal with your situation. But when it comes to poison, however, prevention is the best antidote.

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*Note: Any medical or other information accessible through Ounce of Prevention is provided solely by Roper St. Francis, and has not been edited by Summerville Communications, Inc., the Summerville Journal Scene, the The Gazette, or the Berkeley Independent for content or accuracy.