From time to time have children, mostly toddlers, in the PICU who are there because of an overdose of a medication meant for somebody else. I frequently see this scenario happen: parents are careful to keep all medicines locked away from curious toddlers, but then the child visits grandparents who, not having small children regularly around the house, are not so diligent. Many older persons take one or more of a wide variety of powerful medications that can cause serious or even lethal poisoning in small children. Child-proof caps are sometimes difficult for the elderly to open, so they may not use them. I deal with the results of what this can lead to at least several times each year. A parent whose small child spends significant time at another house, especially if someone living there takes medicines, should make sure those medicines are stored safely. Toddlers are amazingly quick at getting into trouble.
The best and fastest way to get advice about poisonings in children is to call your regional Poison Control Center. To make this easy to do, the telephone number is the same across the nation: 1-800-222-1222.
As I’ve written about before, we commonly see children in the PICU as a result of some toxic ingestion or other. Toddlers take medicines they shouldn’t, but don’t know any better; teenagers also take medicines they shouldn’t, but usually should know better.
Toddlers also put anything in their mouths, including plants, and some of these are potentially toxic. In fact, between 5 and 10% of calls to poison control centers involve a plant ingestion. Yet hospitalizations of children for plant poisoning or toxicity are extremely rare. Thus, although such exposures are common, serious consequences are rare. Still, it is good for parents to be aware of some of the common plants around the house and garden than can cause problems.
Philodendron leaves, for example, can be quite irritating to the mouth and tongue but don’t cause any systemic effects. At holiday time, the berries of both holly and mistletoe, particularly the latter, can be quite toxic, so it’s important to keep them out of reach of toddlers. Here and here are lists of common indoor and outdoor plants that can cause problems.
What should you do if your child has eaten some plant material that worries you? The answer is to call your local Poison Control Center, the number for which is in the front of most telephone books.
We have another child in the PICU who is there because of an overdose of medicine, in this case his grandmother’s antidepressant medication. I frequently see this scenario happen: parents are careful to keep all medicines locked away from curious toddlers, but then the child visits grandparents who, not having small children regularly around the house, are not so diligent. Many older persons take one or more of a wide variety of powerful medications that can cause serious or even lethal poisoning in small children. Child-proof caps are sometimes difficult for the elderly to open, so they may not use them. I deal with the results of what this can lead to at least several times each year. A parent whose small child spends significant time at another house, especially if someone living there takes medicines, should make sure those medicines are stored safely. Toddlers are amazingly quick at getting into trouble.
The best and fastest way to get advice about poisonings in children is to call your regional Poison Control Center. To make this easy to do, the telephone number is the same across the nation: 1-800-222-1222.
We have another child in the PICU who is there because of an overdose of medicine, in this case his grandmother’s antidepressant medication. I frequently see this scenario happen: parents are careful to keep all medicines locked away from curious toddlers, but then the child visits grandparents who, not having small children regularly around the house, are not so diligent. Many older persons take one or more of a wide variety of powerful medications that can cause serious or even lethal poisoning in small children. Child-proof caps are sometimes difficult for the elderly to open, so they may not use them. I deal with the results of what this can lead to at least several times each year. A parent whose small child spends significant time at another house, especially if someone living there takes medicines, should make sure those medicines are stored safely. Toddlers are amazingly quick at getting into trouble.
The best and fastest way to get advice about poisonings in children is to call your regional Poison Control Center. To make this easy to do, the telephone number is the same across the nation: 1-800-222-1222.
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