QUINCY (WGEM) – March 16-22 is National Poison Prevention Week.
To raise awareness of potential poisoning possibilities in the home, a local expert gave advice on what to look out for and ways to better secure possibly poisonous items.
Johanna Voss is the Safe Kids Adams County coordinator. She said medication, vitamins, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items (think perfumes, body sprays and lotions) are among the most common materials that end up poisoning people at home.
Voss explained that, for kids, certain objects look like others. For example, some cleaning supplies may look like sports drinks, or vitamins could look like fruit snacks.
“If they’re left out on the counter, kids don’t think anything of it, and they think they look like they taste good. And so, here they’re taking not one but they’re taking four or five. Now they’re into some trouble,” Voss said.
Voss reminded parents that a healthy and safe dose of medication or vitamins can be poisonous to children, and to be aware of their location.
She said putting cleaning supplies and meds out of sight and out of mind for kids, as well as properly securing them, can go a long way.
“There’s nothing wrong with putting a lock on your door. It’s a little inconvenient, but let’s have a little bit of inconvenience to make sure that we’re keeping our family safe,” Voss said.
Voss noted if kids want to help with cleaning, to perhaps give them a dry rag or washcloth with water so they can help — but without using cleaning supplies.
Voss recommended using the Illinois Poison Prevention website to help with identifying other threats and general information. She said there are also apps available that can scan leaves and berries to determine if they are poisonous or not.
Some newer phones come with a local poison control phone number automatically assigned to the contacts app.
When in doubt, Voss said to call 911 if someone may have ingested poison.
The 24/7 National Poison Control Hotline is 1-800-222-1222.
Copyright 2025 WGEM. All rights reserved.
发表回复