Children Often Victims of Poison

              14-A Sun., Mar. 21,1982 SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER The Times
Children often victims of poison
By SALLY REESE
Times Medical Writer
Children under five years of age account
for more than half of all accidental poison-ings
that occur in the American home each
year, according to the Poison Control Center
at LSU Medical Center.
Officials released the figures in an effort
to promote Poison Prevention Week that
begins today.
The center's own records show that nearly
50 percent of all calls received last year
concerned children one to five years old, it
was reported. Maurice A. Hawley III, poison
information pharmacist, said 2,497 of the
5,888 calls processed in 1981 involved chil-dren
in that age range.
Household products, like detergents,
cleansers and disinfectants, and prescrip-tion
drugs are some of the major causes of
accidental poisonings.
Prescription drugs accounted for 17.49
percent of the calls received by the center in
1981. many concerning children who had
found medicines within reach. "We get lots
of calls on children who take drugs that look
like M&Ms," said Hawley.
Household products such as drain
cleaners, electric dishwasher detergents,
scouring powders, glue, deodorizers and
furniture polish represented 8.92 percent of
the calls, said Hawley.
Precaution is the first line of defense
against potentially poisonous substances,
said poison center officials. Parents should
make it their business to learn which prod-ucts
can be dangerous and to keep them out
of the reach of young children.
Poison Prevention Week, beginning today,
is a good time to stock of cabinets and
closets where household products are
stored, Hawley said.
All that is no longer useful — old prescrip-tion
drugs, for example, — should be de-stroyed,
said Hawley. The rest should be
securely sealed and locked up, or stored in
places that children cannot reach.
Every household with young children
should have at least ounce of Ipecac Syrup
on hand for administering emergency home
treatment, Hawley said. Most pharmacies
and several stores carry the one-ounce bot-tle.
Syrup of Ipecac is used to induce vomit-ing.
However, Hawley warned that it should
never be used without first contacting a
physician or the Poison Control Center.
"We want to induce vomiting in some
situations, but not all," he said. "For in-stance,
not in a child who drinks a drain
cleaner or bleach."
Vomiting is potentially dangerous when
strong corrosives have been swallowed,
Hawley explained. Corrosives burn away
tissues in the throat, and vomiting can bring
the corrosive agent back into contact with
the already damaged tissue.
Hawley had some other advice for ensur-ing
safety.
Although safety packaging techniques
have significantly reduced the number of
accidental poisonings, he said it is essential
that grownups properly secure all packages
after each use. Child-proof locks on cabi-nets,
like child-proof caps on medicines,
give more assurance of the child's safety.
Parents should never transfer dangerous
substances from one to container to another,
he said. For example, paint poured into a
food jar. "A child might think it's juice and
drink it."
When in use, household substances should
never be out of the sight of an adult.
Parents should keep medicines in bottles
with child-proof caps, Hawley said. They
should put warning labels on all potentially
lethal substances.
All products should be properly labeled,
said Hawley. The labels should be read
before using. Medicines should never be
taken or given in the dark.
Parents should avoid taking medicine in
front of children; they imitate grownups.
"Never refer to medicine as 'candy' to
entice a child to take it.'' said Hawley.
Should an accidental poisoning occur, call
the Poison Control Center. It is open 24
hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, and its tel-ephone
number is (318) 425-1524.