Visiting Grandma is fun, but can be dangerous because medicines may be out and easily accessible. You have childproofed your home, how about grandma’s?
Older adults will often have their medicines sitting out on tables and nightstands and counters and sinks because seeing their medicines reminds them to take them- Older adults have difficulty opening the “child resistant” tops on medicine bottles so they leave the tops loose or remove them all together
- Weekly medicine boxes filled with lots of pills have tops that easily flip open
- Older adults think that over-the-counter medicines are not dangerous and do not store them in safe places
- Older adults have many chronic illnesses requiring very potent and dangerous medicines
Did you know?
- Only 1 pill of some medicines can be deadly
- Unintentional poisonings from medicines cause more emergency room visits for young children each year than do car accidents
- “Every 10 minutes a young child in the U.S. is taken to the emergency room because of possible poisoning from swallowing a prescription or over-the-counter medicine”
- In one recent study, 23 % of grandparents reported storing prescription medicine in easy-to-access places, including daily-dose boxes that children can open and 18% percent of grandparents store over-the-counter medicines in easily accessible spots
- Many prescription pills resemble candy and children cannot tell the difference
- Among teenagers who are 12 to 17 years old, 7.4 % reported past-year nonmedical use of prescription medications
- One in every five teens were abusing prescription medicines in 2009, and one in every four teens in 2010
What can you do?
- Ask grandparents, aunts and uncles to move all of their medicines to a safe and secure area while your children (including teenagers) are visiting their home
- Always check around the house when you visit for any medicines that may be sitting out. Put them away in a secure safe place during the visit, but remember to put them back where you found them before you leave
- Medicine cabinets are easily accessible by both small children and teenagers so be aware of what is stored there
- Always call your local Poison Center if you suspect that any medicine has been taken or maybe missing
In Good Health,
Health Champion