vendredi 17 mars 2017
The Common Household Item That Poisons 60,000 Kids Each Year
Although many parents think about baby-proofing and ways to keep their little ones safe as they get older, many tragically underestimate just how easy it is for their kiddos to get into their medicine.
According to a new report from Safe Kids Worldwide, 60,000 children are taken to the hospital yearly because they got into medicine. "Nine out of 10 parents know that medicine should be stored up and away and out of reach and sight, every time," said Morag Mackay, director of research for Safe Kids Worldwide, according to Today. "But we found that seven out of 10 of them admitted to not doing that."
This study highlights a major disconnect between what parents know (that medicine is dangerous for kids) and what they do (not properly storing it each and every time they take some). Many adults underestimate their babies and toddlers by leaving medication where they think it's out of reach, like on the counter, but can actually still be accessible to small children.
"Children as young as a month have ended up in an emergency department because they'd been poisoned by getting into a medicine that was left within reach," said Mackay. "Parents, while they know their kids well, they sometimes underestimate what they can actually do."
For Shelagh Macdonald, one of thousands of mothers who have experienced this accident, it occurred in a matter of minutes. She was giving her infant Tylenol to help with teething pain and placed the bottle high on a bookshelf while she put the baby down for a nap. When she returned, her 2-year-old son exclaimed, "Mommy, I took medicine!"
In that short period of time, Calvin had stacked a step stool on top of a training potty in order to reach the bottle. "I panicked," Shelagh told Today. "I hadn't closed (the cap) all the way. He drank nearly the entire bottle of Tylenol."
"Kids develop rapidly," Dr. Rutherfoord Rose, director of the Virginia Poison Center, told NBC News. "They want to explore their environment. At certain ages they have a lot of hand-to-mouth activity, and so it's very common for them to explore their environment and then try to taste what they find."
According to Rose, most cases of medicine poisoning toddlers or babies occurs at home. Parents should also note that vitamins and supplements can be dangerous as well and should be kept out of sight - and not just out of reach - along with all other medications.
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