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Poison Safety

Every 30 seconds a child is poisoned in the United States.  Sixty percent of all poisonings occur to children under the age of six.  Many poisonings occur when the daily household routine has been disrupted.   The most common products involved in poisonings are drugs (prescription and over-the-counter), household and chemical products, plants and cosmetics.  Be aware that safety caps are not really CHILD PROOF. They are only child resistant and if a child is given enough time, they will open the container.

Northern Ohio Poison Control Center
The Northern Ohio Poison Control Center is staffed by experts at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital who are standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to offer emergency treatment advice and answer questions about medicines and poisons. Poison prevention outreach is conducted in collaboration with Rainbow’s Injury Prevention Center. To order materials, including magnets (Spanish or English), phone stickers, children’s stickers, wallet cards, videos and other materials, please fill out an order form.

Prescription for Prevention
Prescription drug abuse is a growing epidemic in Cuyahoga County and throughout the state of Ohio. Each day, nearly four Ohioans die because of drug-related overdose. The Northern Ohio Poison Control Center asks that you help end prescription drug abuse by talking to family, friends and teens about the dangers of taking medication without a prescription or sharing prescription drugs and the highly addictive nature of these drugs.

A recent national study found that 53 percent of people aged 18-25 obtained prescription pain relievers free from family members or friends for nonmedical use. Although it may seem wasteful to dispose of costly prescription medication, properly disposing of unneeded or old medication is one way to prevent prescription drug abuse among your family and friends.
How to get rid of unused prescription drugs properly:

·        Take unneeded medication out of the original container and mix it with garbage, coffee grounds, cat litter or saw dust.

·        Place mixture in a disposable container, such as a sealable plastic bag.

·        Place sealed container in the trash.

·        Remove all personal information from empty medicine bottle and dispose of bottle.

Lead Poisoning
Lead is a metal found in the earth and a poison. For years lead was used in paint, plumbing and many other things. If your house or apartment was built before 1978 it could have lead in the paint and pipes. If lead gets in your child’s body, it can make him very sick. It can cause behavioral problems and make it hard for your child to learn. Children exposed to lead may have difficulties with hand/eye coordination or learning in school.

A child with lead poisoning may not look or act sick. The only way to know for sure is to have you child tested. To get tested go to your doctor or clinic to get a blood test for your child. Or call the Northern Ohio Poison Control Center at 1.800.222.1222 to find out where to get a free test. If your child does test positive for lead, you can call the Northern Ohio Poison Control Center 1.800.222.1222 to get more information about getting treatment for your child.

“Be Poison Smart” Program
The vision of this initiative is to ensure that every child is poison safe and every parent is poison smart. The Northern Ohio Poison Control Center provides Ohio residents with a consistent, effective and accessible statewide poison prevention education program. For questions or additional information on the “Be Poison Smart” program, call 216-983-1110.

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For more information, please contact the Rainbow Injury Prevention Center.