Keeping all medication and cleaning products out of reach

Cyrus Rangan, MD, shares health advice for parents on how to be sure that all your medications and household cleaning products are out of reach from children
Tips For Keeping Medications and Cleaning Products Out of Reach
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Keeping all medication and cleaning products out of reach

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At Poison Control we emphasize that children should learn at a very young age between the differences of poison and non poisons in the house. When you look at some medication, unfortunately, a number of them look a lot like candies. When you look at a bunch of cleaning products, some of them look like our liquid sports drinks. So it's very, very important that we educate our children on a daily basis about the differences between these two substances because the attractiveness of a pill or the color of a certain kind of cleaning product can be the number one reason why a child ends up in the emergency department with an accidental poisoning. So as a result, we advice that if parents are going to be having medications in the house, that they keep them out of reach, out of sight and out of mind. But in addition to that, if you're going to be carrying around medications, let's say in your purse, make sure that you regard that medication in your purse almost in the same way that you would regard a loaded gun, because it takes one bullet from a gun to kill a child, and it takes one pill from adult dosages of certain medications to potentially kill a young child. So if we have that same philosophy, that I would not leave a loaded gun lying around on the table, I should also not leave my prescription mediciation on the table for the child to see as well. In addition to that, when you have visitors to your home, let's say grandma or grandpa is coming over and they are bringing their medications with them, the first thing you should do when that person walks in the door is to say, let's take a look at your medications and let's put them out of sight, out of reach, out of mind to make sure we can avoid a poisoning in the home.

Cyrus Rangan, MD, shares health advice for parents on how to be sure that all your medications and household cleaning products are out of reach from children

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Cyrus Rangan, MD

Medical Toxicologist, Poison Control

Cyrus Rangan, MD, is a pediatrician and medical toxicologist. Cyrus serves as the Assistant Medical Director with the California Poison Control System and medical toxicology consultant for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Over 70% of the calls received at the center are able to stay at home and avoid a visit to the hospital, based on the over-the-phone support of the center. Cyrus is also the father of two boys, age seven and four, with whom he enjoys practicing Kung Fu. 

Poisons, Poisons, Poison, Poison
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