Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Keep Children Safe from Medication Poisoning in Your Home

National Poison Prevention Week, March 16-22, 2014

Medical advances have allowed researchers to develop a wide variety of medications designed to help keep us healthy. All medications, however, can be harmful if not taken as recommended. More than 67,000 children are seen each year in an emergency department in the U.S. for a medication exposure, which includes children taking medication while unsupervised and dosing errors. National Poison Prevention Week highlights how to properly store, use, and dispose of medications in your home.

You don’t have to toss out all of your medications to keep your kids safe—just follow these tips.


Safe Storage

  • Choose a place that is too high for children to reach or see, and consider using a lock to make sure children cannot access medications. 
  • Check the cap on each medication to be sure it is one that is designed to keep a young child from easily opening it and that it is closed tightly. 
  • Put medications away immediately after every use. 
  • Never leave easy-access containers, such as daily pill boxes, within a child’s reach.

Safe Use

  • Check the medication’s or your doctor’s instructions for the right dose for your child. 
  • Use the measuring device, such as a dosing cup or oral syringe, that comes with the medicine or ask a pharmacist to recommend one. 
  • Teach your child to only take medication with help from an adult. 
  • Know the phone number for poison control: 1-800-222-1222

Safe Disposal

  • Check the expiration date before using medications. 
  • Dispose of expired or unneeded medications according to any specific instructions on the label. Do not flush medicines down a sink or toilet unless instructed. Check with your local government’s trash and recycling services to see if a medication take-back program is available in your area.
For more information on this and other child injury prevention topics, visit
www.PreventChildInjury.org.



Blog post provided by Prevent Child Injury

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Zika: Taking Precautions - Men, Women & Children

Zika: Snapshot

  1. Zika virus is mainly spread through mosquito bites
  2. How do you prevent Zika virus? The best way is to not get bitten! 

Everyone Should Take Precautions

Zika is a concern for pregnant women or people trying to become pregnant because Zika is possibly linked to microcephaly. Pregnant women are advised by the CDC to not travel to any areas where the Zika virus is spreading. Also, pregnant women are advised by the CDC to avoid sex or use condoms with their male partner if he has traveled to an area where the Zika virus is spreading as the Zika virus can be spread by a man to his sex partner.

Even if you are not a woman who is pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, everyone (that means men and children, as well) should take precautions to help minimize the spread of the Zika virus! It's a group effort! If you have Zika, protect others from getting sick.

The CDC recommends that "if you have traveled to a country where Zika has been found, make sure you take the same measures to protect yourself from mosquito bites at home as you would while traveling."  This is because "during the first week of infection, Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to a mosquito through mosquito bites" (5 Things You Really Need to Know About Zika).

How to Not Get Bitten by Mosquitoes

Here are some tips from the CDC on avoiding mosquito bites:
  • Use insect Repellent
  • Cover exposed skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and hats.
  • Stay and sleep in screened or air-conditioned rooms.
  • Use a bed net if the area where you are sleeping is exposed to the outdoors. 

The Right Bug Spray

The CDC recommends EPA registered insect repellent. Just look on the product label of the insect repellent to see if your insect repellent has an EPA registration number. Find EPA registered insect repellent right for you 

EPA registration
https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-insect-repellent-right-you

Pregnant, Breastfeeding or Have a Child?


According to the CDC "when used as directed, EPA-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women."

The CDC advises that if you have a baby or child do not use insect repellent on babies younger than 2 months of age. According to the EPA insect repellent containing DEET is approved for use on children.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Another Great One!


Thanks for all who attended the 2016 Annual Conference!


We greatly appreciated everyone who was a part of our 2016 Annual Conference.  This was our biggest conference to date! We could not have done it without you. We are so glad you were able to join in the festivities with us.

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