California Poison Control System Promotes Awareness During Poison Prevention Week

Adults are generally comfortable with recognizing the medications they take. Unfortunately the little pills that are commonly found in many bathroom cupboards look too similar to candy for young children to understand the difference. This can lead to potentially fatal outcomes. The household cleaners that many of us store under the sink or in the laundry room can pose as a mysterious toy for young children, also causing serious health problems. As National Poison Prevention Week begins, the California Poison Control System has announced new programs to better inform the public about the second leading cause of childhood injury in the United States.

Some of the new programs include free text messaging service, Facebook quizzes and e-cards that provide tips and information about poison prevention. The text messaging service will be provide tips and news about accidental poisoning prevention in both English and Spanish. You can opt in to the service for free by texting TIPS of PUNTOS for Spanish, to 69866. Participants will receive one message a day during National Poison Prevention Week, then once a week during the rest of the year. Standard text messaging rates will apply depending on your service provider.

There are plenty of things parents and caregivers can do to protect children in their care. Keep the poison control number, 1-800-222-1222, near all phones in the home. If you do have young children, keep all medicines and cleaning products out of reach and in locked cabinets. Never store food with cleaners or medications. When giving medication to a child, never call it “candy”.

If you would like to share information about National Poison Prevention Week, consider sending e-cards to friends and family. Head over to this website to browse a collection of cards aimed at informing people about the dangers of accidental poisoning. Remind folks which items commonly found in the garage could be fatal if ingested and why things like make up and perfume should be kept out of reach of children.

Test your own ability to distinguish candy from medication by checking out this website. Many medications do look very similar to candy.

Poison Information Providers, Pharmacists, Nurses, and Physician-Toxicologists are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by calling the poison control number if you suspect poison exposure. Do not hesitate to call if you have questions, even if it isn’t an emergency.

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Posted by Michelle Ventress on Mar 15 2010. Filed under Viewpoints. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.