| Each year,
according to the folks at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,
unintentional poisonings from medicines and household chemicals kill about
30 children and prompt more than 1 million calls to the nation's poison
control centers.
The 40th observance of National Poison Prevention Week, which is March 18-24, is aimed at preventing those childhood poisonings by reminding people to check their homes now. The three most important safety messages to prevent poisonings are: (1) Use child-resistant packaging because it saves lives; (2) Keep medicines and household chemicals locked up out of reach and out of sight of young children because some children can open child-resistant packaging; and (3) Keep the poison control center number next to your telephone and call immediately if a poisoning occurs. The CPSC requires child-resistant packaging for 28 categories of medicines and household chemicals and is considering such packaging for a group of chemicals known as hydrocarbons. "Child resistant-packaging saves lives," said CPSC Executive Director Pamela Gilbert. "For aspirin and oral prescription medicine, special packaging has saved the lives of over 900 children since the early 1970s." But officials emphasize that child-resistant packaging is not child-proof. If a young child swallows a medicine or chemical, parents must call the poison control center immediately. National Poison
Prevention Week is organized each year by the Poison Prevention Week Council,
a coalition of national organizations working to prevent poisonings. According
to William W. Bradley, Chairman of the Poison Prevention Week Council:
"Children are curious, and they act fast. So do poisons. Keep chemicals
and medicines locked up out of reach and out of sight.
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