March 15 – 21 is National Poison Prevention Week. When I think about poison, I often reminisce about a childhood incident where I accidentally drank bleach that my mom had put in a glass where she was working on laundry. As kids do, I ran in from playing and before she could turn around I had taken a gulp of the bleach. Poisoning can happen that quickly-everyday! Unlike myself, not every kid has a mom who’s a nurse; however, we do have a poison helpline at 1-800-222-1222 that is open 24/7. The poison helpline is staffed by nurses, doctors, pharmacist, or other poison experts. These experts are trusted and relied on by hospitals, healthcare providers and emergency workers in our communities.
What is a poison, and what does it look like? I still associate the image of the skull and cross bones emblem my parents drilled into my head as a child as a poison. Unfortunately, there are so many everyday household products that could poison you, your family or your pets, so let’s do a quick review.
Poison Help defines a poison as anything that can harm someone if it is used in the wrong way, used by the wrong person, or used in the wrong amount. Contact with poisons can occur by entering your eyes, by inhalation, or by touching your skin. Examples of poisons include: alcohol; medications; food supplements like vitamins, minerals, and herbs; personal care products such as nail polish, cologne, deodorant, mouthwash, hydrogen peroxide, make-up, soap, contact lens solutions, lotions, baby care products; and household products like bleach, detergents, polishes, drain and toilet bowl cleaners, antifreeze, and paint products. Other risks include some plants, mushrooms, spiders, wasps, bees and, snakes. As you can see, poisons come in many different forms and may be disguised in friendly packaged products we use every day.
So, what is the importance of a Poison Control Center to our community? The Tennessee Poison Center estimated that the state”would pay $5,789,200 yearly (based on 2007 hospital cost) if the Tennessee Poison Center were not available…” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that unintentional poisoning was second only to motor vehicle crashes as a cause of unintentional injury death in 2005. In 2000, poisoning led to $26 billion in medical expenses and made up 6% of the economic costs of all injuries in the United States (CDC). It is estimated that every dollar spent on a Poison Center saves the state $7; therefore, a Poison Center’s economic impact is significant.
The following tips can help prevent poisoning: Choose products in containers that are hard for children to open. Remember no container is guaranteed child proof. Keep all household products, strong chemicals, and medicines locked up and out of sight. When products are in use, never let young children out of your sight. Take the child or product with you when answering the phone or doorbell. Keep products in the containers they came in. Take and give medicine in a well-lit area. Check the dosage every time. Avoid taking medicine in front of children. NEVER CALL MEDICINE CANDY! (CDC)
Remember, if a person is unconscious, not breathing, or is having convulsions or seizures due to poison ingestion or contact call 911 or your local emergency number immediately. If someone comes into contact with or ingested a poison, and has mild or no symptoms, call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.
The Poison Control Center provides limited assistance regarding pets. Currently there is not a free poison information help service for pets; however, I am aware of two fee based services- The Pet Poison Help Line @ 1-800-213-6680 and the National Animal Poison Control (ASPCA) @ 1-888-426-4435. Some manufacturers will cover the cost of the ASPCA service if their product is the cause of the poisoning. Be sure to take extra precautions to protect pets, because they face the same poisoning risk we do.
Howard Baker, RN BSN
For questions, comments, or suggestions on topics you want to read about please email me at: howard@howardsbaker.com
