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, just in time for spring cleaning. With the first day of spring also being day one of National Poison Prevention Week, this is the perfect time to learn how to make your home and air quality safe as you clean.

Cleaning Products

Store them in a locked cabinet, place them up high, do whatever it takes to make sure tiny fingers and paws can’t get to your cleaning products. Installing child-safety locks on cabinets will help keep most children and pets away, but child-safe does not equal child-proof. Storing cleaning products up on a tall shelf or in an inaccessible cabinet is the safest way to help keep your little ones from accessing unsafe chemicals. Always leave your cleaners in the container it came in with the label intact to avoid any mix-ups and to make sure you are prepared if anything ever happens. Also, don’t forget to run the fan and open windows while cleaning to keep the chemicals from getting stuck in your breathing air.

REMINDER: Natural does not mean non-toxic – treat ALL cleaning supplies with extreme caution.

Medicines

Two key things mentioned about cleaning products are also very important for medicines.

• Natural does not mean non-toxic 

Hyland’s Teething Tablets are homeopathic tablets used to help soothe pain caused by teething. Several parents swear by these pain-fighting tablets to bring relief to their baby, but about five years ago a new formula was created after the FDA discovered inconsistent amounts of belladonna in the tablets. This plant is toxic and eating small amounts of the belladonna leaves or berries may be fatal. That being said, this plant is used for multiple medical purposes – it is included in the drops used to dilate your eyes, and is used (in combination with other medicinal substances) to combat Parkinson’s disease, the flu, and stomach ulcers. The thing you need to keep in mind is just because the label says natural doesn’t make it non-toxic, and just about anything – found in nature or not – in excessive doses could be dangerous.

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

Imagine, you’re cooking breakfast and you hear, “Mommy, this candy doesn’t taste good.” You whip your head around to find your three-year old holding your pain medicine bottle in one hand and a little white pill in the other. Fifteen minutes later you’re sitting in the ER thinking about how a mama who made all of their baby food from organic produce 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 toddler, but where they could actually get it opened. Just because the cap is child-resistant, it doesn’t make it child-proof so keep those medications locked up high.

Outdoor Chemicals

Just because you keep your insect killers , fertilizers, and mouse traps outside, doesn’t mean you can store them anywhere. Store them on a high shelf or store them locked away in a tool box. If you are spraying anything around your home, time it so that it is right before you will be away for awhile to avoid people inhaling or getting into the chemicals.

CO Detectors and Appliances

Carbon monoxide poisoning is more common than we’d like to think and, unfortunately, since there’s no odor and the symptoms are flu-like, it can be too late as soon as we realize what’s happening. Installing a battery-operated CO detector helps alert you of possible dangers, and having your heating system, water heater, and any other wood, gas, coal, or oil burning appliances properly serviced and maintained by a qualified technician will help detect the danger early or keep it from happening.

Batteries and Magnets

Every toy at the store now seems to make plenty of noise that is powered by batteries. It’s easy to throw them in a drawer since it seems like you’re constantly having to track down another AA – but don’t. Batteries are full of chemicals, and the smaller ones, like AAA or coin batteries, are easy to swallow. During digestion, the shell of the batteries can become damaged and leak toxic acid into the ingester’s body.

How to Get Help

If a child should ever ingest any chemicals, medication, or anything you’re unsure about, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Some people worry that getting in touch with Poison Control to alert them of their child ingesting something toxic could get them in trouble with child protective services, but that’s not the case. The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects all calls to Poison Control and means they are unable to share your personal information with police or child protective services. The safety of you and your family is too precious, so always call even if you’re unsure.

If you need any help making sure your heating appliances are safe, please call Gordon's Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning at 405-432-2197 to schedule an appointment. Have a safe and healthy Poison Prevention Week.

To read more about poison prevention and find out how you can make your 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