Is Your Home Poison Proof?

              Poision Prevention Week: March 1 5 - 2 1
Is Your Home Poison Proof?
Because national figures indicate that
children between the ages of 1 and 4 are more
likely to ingest poisons than any other age
group, "Children Act Fast... So Do Poisons" is
the theme of National Poison Prevention
Week - March 15 - 21.
Locally, the Poison Control and Drug Abuse
Information Center, located in Room 5-349 in
LSU Medical Center, offers several services
whidi are geared toward promoting an
awareness of the dangers of various poisons
and letting people know that help is available
when someone has been exposed to an un-known
substance.
One of its major services is a free, 24-hour
emergency telephone information line
(425-1524) for physicians and the public con-cerning
poisoning and drug abuse. Through its
clinical toxicology laboratory, the center can
identify certain drugs or chemicals so that
proper treatment can be determined.
Educational programs focusing on poison
prevention and first aid measures also are
coordinated by the Center, and its facilities
allow students, faculty and house staff real
experience in emergency toxicology. As a
result, the center has a large collection of
epidemiological data on poisonings and drug
abuse and, with this knowledge, offers
medical consultation services.
Not all poisons kill, by the way. Any sub-stance
which makes a person nauseous, ill or
disoriented is considered toxic or poisonous.
This includes drugs, plants, cosmetics,
gasoline, petroleum and household cleaning
products, paints, acids and alkali, among
others.
Besides the lungs and other internal organs,
poisons also attack the eyes and skin;
therefore, proper treatment varies, depending
upon the type of poison involved and the area
affected.
Is your home poison proof?
• Do you store all medicines and household
products in a safe place?
• Do you ask for and use childproof con-tainers
for all poisonous substances?
• Do you keep all drugs, medicines,
household chemicals and pesticides in their
original containers?
• Are you aware of any poisonous plants
you may have in your house or garden?
• Have you made a recent inventory of
drugs and chemicals in your house or garage,
and have you disposed of the old products?
• When using a medicine or house product
do you:
a. Read and understand label
directions?
b. Keep an eye on it at all times?
, c. Return it to its proper place
when you're through with it, even though you
will soon use it again?
• Do you keep syrup of ipecac in your home
in case this is ordered as an immediate
measure to induce vomiting?
• Do you know the number of the Poison
Control and Drug Abuse Information Center?
• Do you understand the Siop Poison Pre-vention
Program and use Siop labels? (Siop
labels, available through the Center, are
orange and black with a menacing looking
green serpent in the middle. Wrapped around
poisonous substances, these labels let the
unaware child know that nothing good to eat is
inside.)
Here are a few more preventative tips
suggested by the Center:
• Do not store chemical products on
shelves used for storing foods.
• Never give or take medicine in the dark
or in front of small children, and never tell
them you're giving them candy when you're
actually giving them medicine.
• Do not leave discarded medicines where
children or pets can get at them.
• Do not transfer poisonous substances to
unlabeled containers, and never reuse con-tainers
of chemical substances.
And, remember, when you suspect a poison
has been swallowed, call 425-1524 for help.
— LESLIE WATKINS