“It is better to be safe than sorry.” This old adage
rings true for any situation that involves the health, safety, and well-being of
children. Because poison control centers around the country report that more
than 50% of the incidents they handle involve accidental poisoning of children
under the age of six, it is certainly better to be safe than sorry when it
comes to preventing such incidents. Parents should practice the following
safety precautions to protect their children:
ü Keep
household cleaners out of the reach of children. It’s not uncommon for
household cleaners to be stored underneath the kitchen and bathroom sinks.
Storing them there is a very unsafe practice, even if locks are put on the
cabinets to “baby proof” them. There is no baby proofing apparatus that is
completely infallible. It would be safer to move household cleaners and
chemical products to a very high shelf that is completely out of a child’s reach.
ü Keep
all prescription and over-the-counter medications out of children’s reach. Make
sure that all medications kept in the house have child-resistant caps. If visitors
are staying in the home, be sure that their purses, luggage, and other
belongings are not accessible to children. Grandma’s purse, for instance, is
often associated with being a fun thing for children to explore. This is
especially true for toddlers and pre-school children. Make sure that children
do not have access to visitor’s belongings so that, if there are medications in
them, children are safe from them.
ü Practice
safe food handling. Food poisoning is another form of poisoning. Keep all food at the proper
temperature and prepare it in such a manner that harmful bacteria is eliminated.
Avoid cross-contamination, and keep counter tops used for food preparation
clean and sanitary. Wash hands carefully before preparing food, and
consistently while preparing food, especially after handling meat products.
Clean the counter top and wash hands thoroughly after handling meat products
and before transitioning to handling other ingredients in the recipe. Make sure
children don’t access the contents of garbage cans. Even the unsavory smell of
garbage may not deter the curiosity of small children.
ü Take
the necessary precautions to prevent lead poisoning and carbon monoxide
poisoning. Make certain that none of the paint in the home contains lead. This
is particularly true for surfaces painted with old paint from a time before the
dangers of lead poisoning from paint were known. Because carbon monoxide is
tasteless, odorless, and colorless, the only way to protect from it is to make
sure that the home has carbon monoxide detectors and that the batteries are
replaced, as necessary, and that the detectors are checked to make sure they stay
functional. A good strategy is to use the start and end of daylight savings
time to change clock batteries, smoke detector batteries, as well as the
batteries in carbon monoxide detectors.
ü Take
extra precautions with products kept in kitchens, bathrooms and garages as
these are the most common locations for accidental poisonings. Ensure that all potentially
dangerous products are stored out of children’s reach. Store all chemical products in their original
containers. The original containers list important information that doctors and
poison control specialists will need to ensure that children get the proper
treatment in the event of an accidental poisoning emergency.
ü Learn to recognize the signs that a
potentially poisonous substance has been ingested. Such signs include a chemical smell on the breath, burns or
redness around the mouth, dizziness, sleepiness, vomiting, confusion, seizures,
and unconsciousness.
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