Giving syrup of ipecac to a poisoning victim is not recommended without professional instruction, but not enough people know that, said Carma Hanson, coordinator of Safe Kids Grand Forks.
This week is National Poison Prevention Week, which runs Sunday through this Friday. The purpose of the week is to focus attention on ways to protect families from poisons and ways to deal with accidental poisoning.
Hanson's organization is a local branch of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury, which is a leading killer of children 14 and younger, according to the group. The global group has 450 coalitions in 16 countries.
Why not give syrup of ipecac?
When a poisoning patient is transferred to a hospital and takes activated charcoal to remove the toxic substance from the digestive system, a patient who took ipecac before coming to the hospital could vomit even the activated charcoal, making the detoxification process more difficult. "Timing is critical in poisoning situations," Hanson said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Hennepin Regional Poison Control Center in Minnesota, which takes calls from North Dakota, answered 7,193 calls last year, according to the North Dakota Department of Health. More than 4,000 calls were related to unintentional poisoning, and more than 60 percent of the calls involved children younger than 5.
Nationwide each year, emergency rooms treat about 53,000 children 5 and younger for poisoning, and about 70 of them die, according to Altru Health System.
About 2 million poisonings are reported each year to the 61 Poison Control centers across the country. More than 90 percent of these poisonings occur at home.
The most important thing to remember to prevent poisoning is to get the possible poisoning agents out of children's reach, Hanson said.
Some products that are considered safe for adults can harm children. That includes cosmetic agents, art supplies, paint supplies, cleaning liquids and even chewable vitamins, if taken in large amounts, Hanson said.
Even though prevention is critical, Hanson said, parents or caregivers must keep local emergency numbers or the poison hotline number, (800) 222-1222, handy.
Reach Lee at (701) 787-6736, (800) 477-6572, ext. 736; or ylee@gfherald.com .
