National Poison Prevention Week is the Perfect Time to Make Sure Your Home is Safe with These Poison Prevention Tips

During the third week of March we celebrate National Poison Prevention Week, a week set aside to raise awareness to the estimated two million poisonings that are documented annually. This year, National Poison Prevention Week is March 20^th through 26^th, which is great to kick off spring cleaning. With spring making its appearance on day one of National Poison Prevention Week, this is the best time to talk about how to make your and your family’s home and air quality safe as you clean.

Cleaning Products

Lock them up, put them up high, do whatever it takes to ensure wee fingers and paws can’t get to your cleaning products. You can install child-safety locks on you cabinets and drawers to help keep young ones and animals away, but child-safe does not mean child-proof. Putting cleaning products up on a high shelf or in an unreachable cabinet is the best way to help keep your little ones from accessing unsafe chemicals. Always leave your cleaners in the original container with the original label to avoid any mistakes and to make sure you have all the information in the event something does happen. Also, remember to keep fans on and open windows while you clean to keep the chemicals from hanging around in your air.

REMINDER: Just because it is natural does not mean it is non-toxic – treat ALL cleaning solutions with the utmost caution.

Medicines

Two crucial things mentioned about cleaning solutions are also very important for medicines.

• Just because it’s natural doesn’t make it non-toxic 

Hyland’s Teething Tablets are homeopathic tablets used to help soothe pain caused by teething. Several parents swear by these pain-killing miracles to bring relief to their little one, but over four years ago a new formula was created after the FDA discovered inconsistent amounts of belladonna in the tablets. Belladonna is a toxic plant and eating a small amount of its leaves or berries may be fatal. That being said, belladonna is used for several medical purposes – it is included in the drops used to dilate your eyes, and is used (combined with other medicinal substances) to treat stomach ulcers, Parkinson’s disease, and the flu. The thing you can’t overlook is just because something is natural doesn’t indicate that it is non-toxic, and practically anything – found in nature or not – in excessive doses could be dangerous.

• Just because something says child resistant doesn’t make it childproof

Picture it, you’re cooking dinner and you hear, “Mom, this candy isn’t good.” You whip your head around to find your two-year-old holding your pain medicine bottle in one hand and a little white pill in the other. Fifteen minutes later you’re standing in the ER thinking about how a mom who made all of their baby food from organic fruits and veggies and baby-proofed the entire house while seven months pregnant managed to end up with a prescription bottle, not only in the vicinity of her little one, but where they could actually get it opened. Just because the top is child-resistant, it doesn’t make it child-proof so keep those medications locked up high.

Outdoor Chemicals

Just because you keep your bug sprays , fertilizers, and rat repellents outside, doesn’t mean you can leave them unlocked. Store them on a tall shelf or store them locked away in a tool cabinet. If you are spraying chemicals around your home, time it so that it is right before you will be away for awhile to avoid anyone inhaling or getting into the chemicals.

CO Detectors and Appliances

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs more often than we care to admit and, unfortunately, since there’s no scent and the symptoms are flu-like, it can be too late when we realize what’s occurring. Installing a battery-operated CO detector will help alert you and your family of any dangers, and having your heating system, water heater, and any other gas, oil, wood or coal burning appliances properly checked and maintained by a qualified technician will help detect the danger early or avoid it altogether.

Batteries and Magnets

Every toy on the shelf now seems to make plenty of noise that is made possible by batteries. It’s easy to throw them in a drawer since it seems like you’re always having to hunt down another AA – but don’t. Batteries are filled with chemicals, and the tiny ones, like AAA or coin batteries, are easy to swallow. During digestion, the shell of the batteries can disintegrate and leak toxic acid into your body.

How to Get Help

If your children should ever ingest any chemicals, medication, or anything you’re unsure about, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Some people are afraid that contacting Poison Control to alert them of their child ingesting something dangerous could get them in trouble with child protective services, but that’s not true. The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects all calls to Poison Control and means they cannot share your personal information with CPS or police. The safety of you and your family is too valuable, so please call even if you are not sure.

If you are ever in need of help to make sure your heating appliances are safe, please call BW/Cook Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning at 574-218-6404 to schedule an appointment. Have a safe and healthy Poison Prevention Week.

To learn more about poison prevention and learn how you can make you and your family’s home safer, visit http://www.poisonprevention.org/ or go to these other resources:

• Poison Help: http://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/index.html
• Poison Prevention Tips: http://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/what-can-you-do/prevention-tips/
• American Association of Poison Control Centers: http://www.aapcc.org/prevention/home/
• Home Safety Council Poison Prevention Checklist: http://www.sanfordnc.net/fire/forms/PoisonChecklist.pdf