As a parent, you've probably read a lot of books about the dangers of certain home products for kids. You've locked your cabinets to ensure that they never get in and endanger themselves. But there's one cabinet that you may not be considering: the medicine cabinet.
A new report by Safe Kids Worldwide reports that roughly 165 young kids are seen in emergency rooms each day after getting into medications, both prescription and over-the-counter–a visit that could have been completely prevented. The worst news? The number of accidental poisonings of children has doubled in the past 6 years.
In response to this, Safe Kids Worldwide has launched a new initiative they're calling "Safe Storage, Safe Dosing, Safe Kids" that urges caregivers, medical personnel, pharmacists, drug makers and government groups to do something to reduce these accidental poisonings. Kate Carr, the president/CEO, explans:
This is a brand new initiative for Safe Kids, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of poison control centers and National Poisoning Prevention week. Kids in homes are curious and kids are always going to be curious, so if you have medication, make sure it's stored up and away.
So, how do you deal with medicine in your home? Don't forget that kids tend to go for pills because they can look like candy, proper storage is key. With the statistics of kids being poisoned by medicine only rising, I think it's only getting more important to make sure that we all safeguard our homes against these unfortunately common issues.
How careful are you about guarding the pills in your medicine cabinets?
Image via Earnest_One/flickr
