Medicine poisoning among children

1. Medicine Poisoning
among young children
By Vanessa Soanze

3. What is it?
 According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine
(2015)a poison is considered to be any substance that
can harm the human body. In addition, any substance
can be poisonous if too much is taken.
 In the case of Medicine poisoning, the substance is
any drugs, prescriptions drugs or over-the-counter
drugs.

4. What is it? Cont.
 Furthermore, medicine is not the only source of
poisoning that children are exposed to, household
products, personal care products indoor and outdoor
plants, carbon monoxide from gas appliance and
pesticides (U.S. National library, 2015)

5. Who is at risk?
 Though everyone is at risk of medicine poisoning, the
individuals who shows to have a higher risk to
medicine poisoning are children of age 6 and under
(HealthyCHildren, 2015).
 The reason behind it is because at this age children
are very active and curious.

6. Target Population
 Parents, grandparents, siblings, guardians, caregivers
are the target population or perhaps the target
solution. Because they are the individuals who can
put a stop at medicine poisoning among young
children simply by enforcing safety strategies.

7. Safety Strategies: Prevention
Methods
 Store drugs and medications in a medicine cabinet that is
locked or out of reach.
 If you carry a purse, keep potential poisons out of your purse
and keep your child away from other people’s purses.
 Buy and keep medications in their own containers with child
safety caps.
 Put the cap on completely after each use. Child resistant
does not mean childproof, only that it takes longer for your
child to get into it.
 Do not take medicine in front of small children; they may try
to imitate you later.
 Never tell a child that a medicine is candy.

8. Safety Strategies: Prevention
Methods cont.
 Store hazardous products in locked cabinets that are
out of your child’s reach. Do not keep detergents and
other cleaning products under the kitchen or bathroom
sink.
 Being alert and aware is extremely important. Be alert
to visitors’ medicine. Guests in your home may not be
thinking about medicine they brought with them in
their belongings.
 Even if you are tempted to keep it handy, put
medicine out of reach after every use. (Safekids
Worldwide, 2014) (Healthychildren, 2015)

9. Medicine Disposal
 Make sure you dispose your drugs the proper way.
Disposing it in a trash can be harmful to the children
and also to pets because it will make it accessible to
them (Safekids Worldwide, 2014).
 There are countless ways to safely dispose your
drugs, do your research and stay alerted!
 Some local supermarket, and local pharmacies
collect unused drugs.

10. What to do in a poisoning
case?
 As we aware, accident do happen. In a case of
medicine poisoning,
 Call emergency contact 911
 If it is not a severe case, call or visit the American
Association of Poison Control Center at
1 (800) 222-1222 (24hr/7)
www.aapcc.org

11. Stay Alerted
 Medicine poisoning along with poisoning in general
among children is preventable and avoidable. Make
sure you keep any harmful substances away from
your children, and make sure you or your care givers
always keep an eye your children.

12. References
U.S. National Library of Medicine (2015) Poison
definition. Retrieved from,
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/poisoning.html
Safekids Worldwide, (2014) Medicine safety study.
Retrieved
from,http://www.safekids.org/med_report_2014
Healthy Children (2015), Poison prevention. Retrieved
from,https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-
prevention/all-around/Pages/Poison-Prevention.aspx