To Grandmother’s House We Go… To Get POISONED

By Michele Caliva (the story, not the getting poisoned part)

Are your kids getting poisoned at grandma’s house?

Each year over 2.2 million calls are managed by one of the nationwide poison centers. Of these calls, over fifty percent involve children under the age of 5. Ninety-three percent of these calls occur in the home; either their home or the home of their grandparents. What can be done to reduce poisonings in the home?

Recognize the dangers that lurk in every corner of grandma’s house.

Medications- There is the pill minder. It should be kept way out of the reach of a child and not on the kitchen table… Inside this container is often medications that produce serious toxic effects and some may even kill your grandchild with a single pill! What are the drugs most concerning? Heart and blood pressure medication, especially Digitalis, Beta Blockers (examples include but are not limited to Inderal, Toprol, Lopressor, Tenormin, or Coreg) and Calcium Channel Blockers (examples include but are not limited to Norvasc, Procardia, Cardizem or Calan). These drugs can significantly lower your grandchild’s blood pressure and heart rate making them critically ill or can even cause death.
Diabetic medication can lower your grandchild’s blood glucose level (sugar in the blood stream) to dangerous low levels. Low levels produce confusion, drowsiness, coma or death.
Other medications include pain medication such as Demerol, Codeine, Ultram, Duragesic, or OxyContin. These medications are highly dangerous in children and can cause them to become very drowsy and decrease their ability to breath.

The Medicine Cabinet-lots of dangers behind that mirror…

The medicine cabinet is an intriguing place for a toddler. He or she may enjoy watching you go in and out of the cabinet retrieving mouthwash, toothpaste, pill bottles or cosmetics. You are one of grandchild’s favorite person. They want to imitate you. When you least expect it, they may climb on that toilet set, move to the sink and help themselves to all of the pretty bottles they watch you using each day. So, what in those bottles is concerning? Everything! Toothpaste contains fluoride. When ingested in significant amount it will cause vomiting. Mouthwash contains alcohol. Alcohol doesn’t make a child “drunk”, it rapidly lowers their glucose level in their blood stream which can make them lethargic, comatose or cause death. Cosmetics can be a choking hazard, contain alcohol and even acetone. They too pose a risk when ingested. Then there are the pill bottles….
Over the Counter Medications (OTC’s)- Just because a medicine is purchased over the counter does not mean it is few of dangers or risks…
OTC’s include pain medicine such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin (Bayer), or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin). These medications can be used safely in children but the dose is based on their weight and age. Too much of an adult dose can result in significant toxicity, i.e., taking too much acetaminophen can result in liver damage.
Topical Medications can also be poisonings. Products that contain methyl salicylate (a form of aspirin) are very dangerous in kids. This product should not be ingested and it should not be rubbed on to a child’s skin as it is readily absorbed.
Other dangerous products found in medicine cabinets include Vick’s VapoRub. This product contains Camphor. Camphor when ingested can produce seizures.
Anti itch medication such as liquid and over the counter Benadryl need to be used with caution and under the direction of a physician. Never give Benadryl (diphenhydramine) without taking to your grandchild’s doctor first. Also, avoid using topical diphenhydramine if giving the liquid form and avoid using it on open sores as this medication is quickly absorbed through the skin and open wounds.

In the bedroom…

Avoid leaving medications such as Viagra or laxatives (such as Ex-Lax) in bedside drawers or on top of dressers. Viagra can cause symptoms such as flushing in children. A small taste of a laxative may produce diarrhea which may result in dehydration.

Perfumes also contain varying amounts of alcohol as do hand sanitizers.
Another product that may look harmless but can result in significant damage is the battery to a hearing aid. These button batteries if ingested can lodge anywhere in the throat, near the lungs, stomach or intestines.

The Kitchen — one of the favorite places in the house and one of the most dangerous…

Cleaning products of various colors and containers are attention grabbing for your grandchild, particularly if you keep them on their level. All of these products need to be in a cupboard that is not floor level and for added assurance, this cupboard needs to be locked at all times. So, what is most concerning? All of it, but to highlight a few…..furniture polish contains petroleum distillates. These hydrocarbons, if ingested, can easily be breathed into your grandchild’s lungs. When this happens, they cough and have difficulty breathing. The type of poisonings often results in hospitalization while your grandchild is being treated for symptoms similar to pneumonia. Cleaning products used in dishwashers, if ingested, can result in burns to the lips, tongues or throat. Clorox products inhaled can cause throat and lung irritation. Glass cleaner squirted in the eye can cause eye burning, irritation, pain and damage.

What about your baking supplies?

Great for your cookies, but products like extracts (Vanilla, Almond, and Orange) contain high concentrations of alcohol. Peppermint not only contains alcohol, but menthol, which can be irritating to the throat, and cause flushing. Oil of Winter Green contains methyl salicylate which is a high dose of an aspirin product.

Food concerns…

powdered caffeine is being sold in quantities that are harmful to both children and adults. Never give your grandchild powdered caffeine, and if you use it, take only the recommend amount. Alcohol-containing products such as beer, wine or liquor can result in your grandchild getting drowsy and stop breathing.

Recycling bin…

what a fun place to play in… seems harmless enough after all the bottles have been all rinsed out. Or have they? Many times a seemingly empty cleaning bottle has some residual product around the rim. Enough of the product may exist for your grandchild’s tiny finger to find it and put it straight into their mouth.

The Laundry Room…

laundry detergent particularly the laundry pods has caused serious poisonings in children. The laundry pods if ingested cause both a choking hazard and damage to the throat and lungs.

The rest of the house…

Air fresheners are easily accessible especially those sitting on a table or plugged into a wall. These products, if ingested, can product mouth and throat irritation. Have a pretty hurricane lamp that takes lamp oil? Lamp oil, if ingested, can cause serious breathing issues or even death.

Do you have a green thumb? Plants have a nice touch to one’s home but can be poisonous if swallowed. Know what each of your plants is. Write the name on a Popsicle stick and keep it with the plant in the container. Check with your local poison center to see if the plant is poisonous. If it is, keep it well off the ground and away from tables, counters or chairs that your grandchild may be able to climb on to reach the plant. If the plant is non-toxic, know that it may still be a choking hazard and should be well out of reach.

E-cigarettes which contain liquid nicotine and are sweetly flavored may catch your grandchild’s attention. This product has cased deaths. Symptoms of ingestion include vomiting, seizures and a change in heart rate.

The garage and outside…

This is one of the most dangerous places for a child.

Pretty blue colored windshield washer fluid that looks like Kool Aid is one of the most poisonous products on the market. Even a taste is enough to be fatal. Pesticides also pose a danger either when rubbed on their skin, ingested or breathed in. Other products that are dangerous include gasoline, motor oil and some fertilizers.

Know your outdoor plants as well as your indoor plants. Some berries that grow on bushes are very poisonous and an ingestion of only one of two can be significant. Outdoor plants such as lily of the valley can cause heart problems. The mushrooms that grow in your yard are also dangerous. It is impossible to tell the difference between a poisonous and non poisonous mushroom without looking at them in a laboratory under a microscope.

So what can grandparents do…?

Keep their grandchildren away from their house? Absolutely not! Your house is the best place from them to visit or live. Take some steps to childproof the home:

1. Move cleaning products from ground level to a high cupboard.
2. Add a lock to cupboards.
3. Keep the recycling bin outside of the kitchen where children to not have easy access.
4. Put a doorknob lock on all doors leading to the garage, laundry room, outside and basement.
5. Know the name of all of the plants indoors and outdoors and label them.
6. Keep bathroom doors closed and put on doorknob locks.
7. Don’t keep medication or batteries in bedside stands or on easily reached dresser tops.
8. Never put cleaning products or chemicals in containers that once held food or drinks (like soda bottles or cans).

The Poison Control Center is Your Best Friend

Find the nearest Poison Control Center now. You can also use

1–800–222–1222

Program your cell phone with the Poison Center number.

Call the Poison Center anytime day or night, 7 days a week even to just ask a question.

Have this information available if you can:

1. The number you are calling from
2. Your address or location
3. Child’s weight
4. Exact name of what the child swallowed or came in contact with
5. Have the container at the phone with you.

Stay calm! A specially trained registered nurse, pharmacist or physician is there to help you.

If the child is unconscious or having trouble breathing, dial 911.

Michele Caliva is the Administrative Director of the Upstate New York Poison Center, Upstate Triage and Transfer Center, Upstate Medical University.

This article was written for Inside Job and is not intended to represent the official position of anyone or anything other than the author.

We are part of the publication https://medium.com/homeland-security.