What preventable incident puts more than 60,000 young children in emergency rooms every year? Ingesting medicine while their parent or caregiver was not looking.
To inform parents and caregivers about safe medication storage and what to do in case of an emergency, CDC has launched Up and Away and Out of Sight along with partners including the Consumer Healthcare Products Association Education Foundation.
Here are simple steps to help protect kids from medication poisoning:
- Store medicines in a safe location that is too high for young children to reach or see.
- Never leave medicine or vitamins out on a kitchen counter or at a sick child’s bedside, even if you have to give the medicine again in a few hours.
- Always relock the safety cap on a medicine bottle. If it has a locking cap that turns, twist it until you hear the click.
- Tell children what medicine is and why you must be the one to give it to them.
- Never tell children medicine is candy so they’ll take it, even if your child does not like to take his or her medicine.
- Remind babysitters, houseguests, and visitors to keep purses, bags, or coats that have medicines in them up and away and out of sight when they are in your home.
- Program the poison control center number 1-800-222-1222 into your home and cell phones so you will have it when you need it.
Need a reminder to take medicine when it's not in plain view? The CDC recommends:
- Write a note to yourself, and put the note somewhere you will see it: examples include the family bulletin board, refrigerator, bathroom mirror, or next to your keys.
- Set a daily reminder for yourself. For example, you could send yourself an e-mail or set the alarm on your watch or cell phone.
- Take your medicine or vitamins at the same time every day, if possible.
- Use a medicine log to keep track each time you take or give medicine.
More information about the safe disposal of medications is available from the FDA.
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