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

Every year during the third week in March we celebrate National Poison Prevention Week to increase awareness around the two millions poisonings that are reported annually, 90% occurring in the home. National Poison Prevention Week 2016 is March 20^th-26^th, which is great to kick off spring cleaning. Since the first day of spring is also the first day of National Poison Prevention Week, this is the best time to find out how to make your family’s home and indoor air quality safe while you’re cleaning.

Cleaning Products

Store them in a locked cabinet, place them up high, do whatever possible to ensure little fingers and paws can’t reach your cleaning supplies. Installing child-safety locks is a great way to keep children and pets out of cabinets and drawers, but remember child-safe does not equal child-proof. Storing cleaning products up on a high shelf or in an unreachable cabinet is the surest way to help keep your young ones from accessing unsafe chemicals. Always leave cleaning products in the original container with the original label to avoid any mix-ups and to make sure you have everything you need in case anything ever does happen. Also, always run the fan and open windows while you are cleaning to keep the chemicals from becoming stagnant in the air.

REMINDER: A label that says “natural” does not make the product non-toxic – treat ALL cleaning solutions with the utmost caution.

Medicines

Two vital things mentioned about cleaning products are also critical for medicines.

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

Hyland’s Teething Tablets are homeopathic teething tablets given to help ease the pain of cutting teeth. Many moms and dads swear by these pain-killing miracles to bring relief to their little one, but over four years ago a new formula was put on the shelves 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, this plant is used for various medical purposes – it is in the drops that dilate a person’s eyes, and is used (in combination with other medicinal substances) to combat Parkinson’s disease, the flu, and stomach ulcers. The thing you cannot forget is just because it’s natural doesn’t make it non-toxic, and practically anything – found in nature or not – in excessive doses could be life-threatening.

• Child resistant does not mean childproof

Picture it, you’re cooking dinner and you hear, “Mama, this candy isn’t good.” You whip your head around to find your toddler holding your pain medicine bottle in one hand and a small white pill in the other. Ten minutes later you’re standing in the ER trying to figure out how a mom who made all of their baby food from organic vegetables and baby-proofed the entire house while still pregnant managed to end up with a prescription bottle, not only within reach 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 tight.

Outdoor Chemicals

Even if you keep your insect killers , fertilizers, and mouse traps outside, doesn’t mean you can just leave them out. Put them on a top shelf or lock them up in a tool box. If you are spraying repellents around your home, time it so that it is right before you will be away for awhile to avoid someone 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 odor and the symptoms are flu-like, it can be too late as soon as we realize what’s going on. 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 inspected 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 tons of noise that is powered by batteries. It’s easy to toss them in a drawer since it feels like you’re continuously having to chase down another AA – but don’t. Batteries are made up of chemicals, and the tiny ones, like AAA or coin batteries, are easy to swallow. During digestion, the covering on batteries can become damaged and leak toxic acid into the ingester’s body.

How to Get Help

If your children should ever ingest any chemicals, medication, or anything you feel is dangerous, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Some people worry that calling Poison Control to alert them of their child ingesting something hazardous could get them in trouble with child protective services, but that isn’t accurate. The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects all calls to Poison Control and means they are not allowed to share your personal information with CPS or police. The safety of you and your family is too important, so always call even if you’re unsure.

If you are ever in need of help to make sure your heating appliances are safe, please call Strogen's Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning at 603-923-4570 to schedule an appointment. Have a safe and healthy Poison Prevention Week.

To learn more about poison prevention and learn how you can make your family’s house safer, visit http://www.poisonprevention.org/ or try 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