30 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • MARCH 18, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
health
Five smart steps to keep medications
safe from children of all ages
Prescription medications have many
benefi ts, including managing pain, regulating
chronic conditions, preventing disease
and more. Despite numerous positives,
medications can be dangerous to
others in your household, especially kids.
As routines have changed and people
are spending more time at home, parents
may be unintentionally leaving medications
out and accessible to children.
Babies and toddlers may rattle medicine
bottles like a toy. Curious kids may think
the contents inside are candy. Childresistant
caps aren’t enough, as many children
can open them easily.
Every eight minutes a child goes to an
emergency room for medicine poisoning,
according to Safe Kids Worldwide,
and three out of four ER visits for medicine
poisoning are due to kids getting
into parents’ or grandparents’ medicine.
Unintentional injuries including poisoning
are the leading cause of mortality
among infants and children in the
United States, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Research from the American
Association of Poison Control Centers
shows the vast majority (90%) of poisonings
occur at home. National Poison
Prevention Week is March 21-27, a good
reminder to look at how you use medications
in your household and adopt safer
practices that include:
Never leave medications out: When
busy multitasking, you may leave your
medication out on a counter or toss it in
your purse or backpack. Leaving it out
even for a minute could be enough time
for a child to access and open it. Don’t
leave medications where kids can see
them or where they can easily be found,
such as in drawers, on nightstands or in
bags. If the medication is for your child
when they are sick, never leave it in their
bedroom.
Store medicines out of reach: Choose
one storage location for all medication
that is out of reach of children. Th is can
be anywhere throughout the home that is
high and out of sight. Get in the habit of
putting medication back in its safe storage
location every time.
Use a locking container: Even though
most prescription containers have childresistant
caps, children can fi nd ways
to open them. Consider using Safe Rx
Locking Pill Bottles to secure medications.
Th e convenient portable containers
require a four-digit code aligned from
bottom to top to open. When you are
done, you simply replace the cap and mix
the numbers to lock the bottle securely.
Talk with your children: Be honest
with kids about the dangers of taking
prescriptions. Adjust your conversation
based on your child’s age, stressing
that medications are only meant for the
person the doctor prescribed them for
and can be harmful to anyone else. Tell
them to never take a medication without
checking with you fi rst and if they fi nd
any pills or bottles to bring them to you
right away.
Dispose of unneeded medication properly:
Check if your community has a drug
disposal program for any unneeded medications.
Many pharmacies off er take-back
programs as well to properly dispose of
unused prescriptions. If nothing is available
near you, dispose of medications at
home by mixing the pills or capsules in a
container with an unappealing substance
like dirt or cat litter before placing in the
trash.
Th ese steps will help signifi cantly
reduce the chances your child will access
your medication. However, in case of
emergency, call poison control immediately.
Program the poison control center
at 800-222-1222 into your home and cell
phones. You may want to add this number
on a sticky note or other label in your
medicine storage space as well.
— Courtesy of BPT
/WWW.QNS.COM
