Keep medicines out of reach, out of sight, even if you need to use them a lot, says Safe Kids Kansas

This week is Poison Prevention Week, so Cherie Sage with Safe Kids Kansas wants to be sure we’re keeping our medicines where they need to be for safety.

“Most parents know exactly what to do,” said Sage. “We need to keep these medications out of reach, out of sight, locked up away from kids. What we’re really doing in practice is not always what we know we should be doing.”

A lot of moms and dads know where medicine should be stored, but if it’s going to be used a lot, sometimes they take shortcuts.

“Maybe our one-year-old baby is sick and we know that we’re going to have to give them another dose of this medicine in just a few hours,” said Sage. “A lot of parents, knowing that we’re just going to be continuously giving them that medicine, they may not practice the best safe storage. They may keep it nearby, on a countertop, someplace like that.”

Every day 142 children under age 6 are being seen at emergency rooms after getting into medicine. That’s one child every ten minutes.

“What we have to do as parents is make sure that we’re childproofing for the next stage to come,” said Sage. “We tell
parents, this is not an area that you can fudge. The highest risk age group for medication poisoning is 15 to 30 months of age.”

Save the Poison Help number in your phone and post it visibly at home: 1-800-222-1222. Specialists at poison control centers provide free, confidential, expert medical advice 24 hours a day. They can answer questions about how to give or take medicine and help with poison emergencies.