Young children are naturally inquisitive and love to explore their world. Infants tend to put everything in their mouths and toddlers grab whatever looks interesting. Each year, poison control centers receive more than 1.1 million calls about accidental poisonings among children ages 5 and under. More than 90 percent of poisonings in children occur at home.

"Curiosity and the tendency to put things in their mouths tend to worry many parents as soon as babies can move around on their own," says Juliette Brown, CHES, an injury prevention coordinator with the Injury Prevention Program at Dell Childrens Medical Center of Central Texas.

"A crawling baby is very curious and little ones, including toddlers, don't understand the concept of danger and risk. They learn new things when you are not looking and they are very fast. Supervision of young children is the key to preventing injuries and should be the primary strategy used by caregivers. However, there are other poison prevention guidelines that parents should follow such as making sure dangerous items are not accessible by placing objects out of reach, using child-proof locks, and child-resistant caps on household products and medications."

Over the past six months, Dell Children's Medical Center's emergency department has seen children who have ingested several different substances, including:

• 93 overdose ingestions (prescribed or over-the-counter medications)
• 11 acetaminophen or aspirin ingestions
• 7 corrosive agents (bleach or other household product)
• 4 hydrocarbon ingestions
• 1 organophosphate ingestion

It is recommended that all families keep the number of the National Poison Control Center on hand. If you have a poisoning emergency, call the poison center immediately. If the child has collapsed or is not breathing, call 911, or your local emergency medical services (EMS).

National Poison Control Center: 1-800-222-1222

The national, toll-free poison control center locator number is 1-800-222-1222. When you dial the national number you will be automatically redirected to the nearest Poison Center in your area. "Adoption of a national poison control locator number has made it so families only need to know one number. This is the number you should post on the fridge or carry in your wallet because they can get you to the right place no matter where you are calling from," adds Juliette.

Calls to poison control centers tend to peak between 4 pm and 10 pm. In children, approximately 60 percent of poisonings involve products other than medicines such as plants, cleaning products, cosmetics, pesticides, paints, and solvents; 40 percent of poisonings involve medications.

"Safety experts believe the best way to handle a poison emergency is to contact the Poison Control Center and follow their instructions," continues Juliette. "A qualified professional is just a phone call away to help parents manage an emergency ingestion situation."

Juliette recommends that if at all possible, the parent be prepared to provide:

• Your name, phone number, address.
• Child's name, age, weight.
• Medications your child may be on.
• Medical conditions your child may have.
• Name of substance your child swallowed (read from container and spell).
• Time you believe the child swallowed the poison.
• Amount you think was swallowed.
• Symptoms your child may be having.
• If a medication (for child or someone else), name of drug and pharmacy details.
• If a pill, what it looks like (size, letters on it, color).
• If a plant, what it looks like.

Protecting Your Family

Juliette uses materials prepared by Safe Kids USA when she provides prevention information to patients families. Safe Kids USA recommends the following:

When it comes to unintentional childhood poisonings, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You can best protect your children by keeping harmful substances out of their sight and reach, and by testing for lead and carbon monoxide. Because no prevention method is 100 percent effective, being prepared can keep poison exposure from turning into tragedy for you and your family.

Eliminate potential hazards:

• Know which household products are poisonous. Something as common as mouthwash can be harmful if a child swallows a large amount.
• Buy child-resistant packaging. Child-resistant caps do not guarantee that children cannot open a container but may deter them from trying or slow them down long enough for you to intervene.
• Never leave potentially poisonous household products unattended while in use. It takes only seconds for a poisoning to occur.
• Dont create new cleaning solutions by mixing different products designed for other uses. The new mixtures may be harmful to children and may not be stored in properly labeled or child-resistant containers.
• Always read labels and follow the exact directions. Give children medicines based on their weights and ages and only use the dispenser that comes packaged with children's medications.

Prepare your home:

• Store all household products and medications locked out of sight and reach of children.
• Keep all products in original containers. Never put a potentially poisonous product in something other than its original container, where it could be mistaken for something harmless.
• Know which plants in and around your home are poisonous; either remove them or make them inaccessible to children.
• Throw away old medicines and other potential poisons. Check your garage, basement and other storage areas for cleaning and work supplies that you no longer need.
• Install carbon monoxide detectors in your home. It is estimated that these detectors, designed to sound an alarm before dangerous levels of carbon monoxide accumulate, may prevent up to half of carbon monoxide poisoning deaths. If the alarm sounds, leave the house immediately and call the fire department, local utility company or emergency medical services from a neighbors home.
• If your home was built before 1978, have it tested for lead-based paint. Cover lead paint with a sealant or hire a professional to remove it.
• Wash childrens hands and faces, toys and pacifiers frequently to reduce the risk of ingesting lead-contaminated dust.
• Post the national toll-free poison hotline number at every telephone: 1-800-222-1222.
• Keep activated charcoal on hand and use it only at the advice of a poison control center or physician.

Teach safety:

• Teach children never to put leaves, stems, bark, seeds, nuts or berries from any plant into their mouths.
• Never refer to medicine or vitamins as candy. Referring to medicine as candy could cause a child to think that it is harmless or pleasant to eat. Since children tend to mimic adults, avoid taking medications in front of them.
• Teach grandparents and relatives to take precautions. Before your children visit their homes, ask grandparents to purchase a bottle of activated charcoal to keep on hand and to post phone numbers to the local poison control center and their local physician near all of their telephones. When relatives visit your home, suitcases containing medicines should be stored where children cannot reach them.

Safe Kids USA also offers more complete poison information including frequently asked questions and poison safety checklists. There's also a checklist in Spanish available on the site.

Safe Kids Austin

Safe Kids Austin is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, the nations first non-profit organization dedicated solely to the prevention of accidental childhood injury. Safe Kids Worldwide is made up of more than 450 state and local Safe Kids coalitions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Safe Kids Austin consists of more than 30 community, civic and state organizations. The Coalitions initiatives include classroom-based programs and educational events for families. The Coalition focuses on promoting safety in vehicles, around water, and while walking and biking.

For more information about Safe Kids Austin, please contact Tareka Wheeler, Coalition Coordinator, at twheeler@seton.org.

For more information on safety and injury prevention, visit Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas's Safety and Injury Prevention Web site.