Poisoning happens overwhelmingly at home

Since the initial surge of COVID-19, many people are adjusting to living their lives, mostly at home. With more “staying at home” time, medication and poisoning safety is important, because it can prevent unsupervised accidental ingestion of potentially harmful or fatal substances.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, 92 percent of poisonings happen at home, and 43 percent of poisonings involve children under the age of six. This year, National Poison Prevention Week is March 21-27, with tips for families to follow to help prevent accidental ingestion of poisonings.

Safe dosage tips:

• Use the dosing tool that comes with the medicine. Do not use a kitchen spoon as a replacement. If the original dosing tool is missing, ask a pharmacist for an appropriate replacement.

• Read and follow the label. Do not give or take more than one medicine at a time, with the same type of active ingredient.

• Use reminder tools to help keep track of medicine doses. Set a reminder in a cell phone or use a medicine schedule, to remember when to give and take medicine. This will help ensure the correct amount and frequency of doses.

Safe storage tips:

• Keep all medicine, cleaning products and other chemicals, out of children’s reach and sight, even over-the-counter items used frequently. Kids are naturally curious and can quickly get into things if they are kept in places within their reach. Keep all potentially harmful products up and away.

• Choose child-resistant packaging whenever possible. If someone in the home is using pill boxes or other containers that are not child-resistant, it’s even more important to store these out of children’s reach and sight. While a child-resistant container can slow down a child working to open it, it is not childproof. Families are often surprised by how quickly their little one can get into a childresistant container.

• Candy vs. Medicine. To a little explorer, candy and medicine can look alike, so it is especially important to keep all medicines and vitamins, out of children’s reach and sight.

Safe disposal tips:

• Utilize medication drop boxes in the community to dispose of expired or unneeded medications. Doing so can reduce the risk of accidental poison- ings in children and pets, help reduce prescription drug abuse in communities and help protect the environment.

• Dispose of hazardous materials and chemicals no longer needed. Contact a county’s solid waste department to learn how to properly dispose of hazardous waste.

Parents and caregivers should save the Poison Help number (1-800-2221222) in phones and post it visibly in the home. Specialists at poison control centers provide free, confidential, medical advice, 24 hours a day. They help with poison emergencies and can also answer questions about medicine safety.