It’s National Poison Prevention Week. After you’ve had fun with this vintage PSA from the 1970s, check out a few tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics to help keep your kids from being among the 2.4 million people each year (half under age 6) who tangle with a poisonous substance.
- Store medicines, cleaners, paints/varnished and pesticides in their original packaging, never in food or drink containers.
- Keep these items in cabinets that self-lock when you close the door, out of sight and reach of children.
- Buy your medications in containers with safety caps.
- Never call medicine “candy.”
- Read the dosing instructions each time you give your child medicine, to make sure you’re giving the right dosage.
- Keep coal, wood or kerosene stoves in safe working order.
- Equip your home with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and check regularly to make sure they are working.
If your child has swallowed or come into contact with something poisonous and is unconscious, not breathing or having convulsions, call 9-1-1 immediately. If your child has come into contact with poison but doesn’t have symptoms, call the poison control center at 800-222-1222.
Meanwhile, take these measures:
- Swallowed poison: Have your child spit out any remaining substance. Do not make your child vomit or give your child syrup of ipecac.
- Skin poison: Remove your child’s clothes and rinse the skin with lukewarm water for at least 15 minutes.
- Eye poison: Flush your child’s eye by holding the eyelid open and pouring a steady stream of room temperature water into the inner corner.
- Poisonous fumes: Take your child outside or into fresh air immediately. If your child has stopped breathing, start CPR.
Tags: poison prevention