Local health officials launch safe medication storage campaign
Nearly 1 in 6 of all child deaths and near-deaths in Kentucky are related to ingesting something
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – According to health officials, every 9 minutes a child goes to the ER because they got into medicine, and in Kentucky nearly 1 in 6 of all child deaths and near-deaths are related to ingesting something.
“And that’s access to multi-vitamins, over the counter prescription medications, Tylenol is a substance that can be dangerous to kids” said Dr. Christina Howard, the Chief of the Pediatric Forensic Medicine Division
Dr. Howard also says the number of kids who have ingested melatonin has increased more than 500% in recent years.
And that a big reason for accidental ingestion is that many medications look kid friendly.
“Unfortunately, I think there are many substances that are made to look so child friendly in the home and so kids will start to look for those, like gummies, a lot of multi-vitamins are gummies and they taste really good so you don’t have to fight your kids in taking them every day but unfortunately that means they keep wanting more and so they’ll do what they can to get access to those” added Dr. Howard.
The goal of the ‘Face It Movement’ campaign is to reduce the number of children going to the ER because they had access to unsecured medication.
Dr. Howard says that’s why storing medication safely is so important, she says keeping medication up and away from reach and in locked safe bags is best.
“And what it does is this zipper closes just normally and then it has this little gadget on the end with the zipper goes through and then you can put this lock on it and secure it remove the key and that prevents a child from being able to easily unzip the bag and get in” said Dr. Howard.
It is also recommended to keep the number for poison control in your phone or on your fridge
that number is 800-222-1222.
