Teach Adults to Recognize Signs of Pediatric Poisoning
Thursday June 1, 2006
Print This- Select Text Size:
Comments
advertisement
"We don't want to stop children from exploring their world and learning about it, but we want to make sure they do not en-counter things that could harm them," says Rose Ann G. Soloway, RN, MSEd, DABAT, clinical toxicologist with the National Capital Poison Center, Washington, D.C.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers received more than 1.5 million calls about youngsters and teens exposed to poisons in 2004. More than 1.2 million queries pertained to children younger than 6 years of age. The large majority of these exposures occur at home, but exposures also happen when children visit the homes of friends and relatives.
All it takes ...
To prevent youngsters from encountering toxins, parents must lock medications and other dangerous products out of the sight and reach of children. They also should store medicines, supplements, and household products in their original
containers with child-resistant packaging intact. Nurses can help adults by educating them about these life-saving steps.
"We know people find child-resistant containers inconvenient," Soloway says. "But the most dangerous poisons to children are the medicines taken by older adults."
Licking the coating off of an antihypertensive or swallowing iron supplements or acetaminophen can be enough to kill a child. Oral hypoglycemics can drop a child's blood sugar dangerously low.
Soloway suggests that adults who experience difficulty with child-resistant packaging discuss alternatives with their pharmacist. Two-step caps require less strength but more mental acumen, making them easier for elder adults to handle. Always remember that child-resistant caps and other packaging will slow children down, but these items will not be "child-proof."
Interacting with specialists
If someone suspects a child has ingested or come into contact with a toxic substance, he or she should call their community's poison center immediately and not wait for a child to develop symptoms. There is no charge for these calls.
"If they call right away, we may be able to do something to prevent the child from becoming ill," Soloway advises. "If the child becomes ill, we're dealing with a much more serious situation."
A poison control center nurse, pharmacist, physician, or other poison specialist will assess information given by the caller and provide direction. Approximately 90% of the time, these certified specialists recommend care that does not necessitate a hospital visit. If the child needs medical attention, however, the poison control expert will call emergency medical services and the local ED.
Adults or parents should follow poison center directions. They should not give the child anything to eat or drink unless told to do so by the poison center representative. If inhaled poisons are involved, an adult should take the child outside for fresh air. If exposed to topical poisons, an adult should remove contaminated clothing and rinse affected skin with water for 10 minutes. If poison has entered the child's eye, it should be flushed with water for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the agent.
Most poison center calls come from the general public, with the balance coming from nurses, physicians, and EMS personnel requesting direction. Health care
professionals also can call upon a poison center's expertise if a patient presents with an unusual combination of symptoms.
"We will help a nurse figure out what it might be and what type of history and laboratory studies might be important," Soloway says. "If signs and symptoms do not seem consistent with poisoning, we will tell them that, too."
Debra Anscombe Wood, RN, is a frequent contributor to Nursing Spectrum.
The SIDS-serotonin relationship
Researchers are working to understand the relationship between SIDS and disruptions in the brain's system for regulating levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin.
Scientists note a leading theory to explain SIDS in the March 8 issue of Journal of Neuroscience: Victims fail to resuscitate themselves because the mechanism for resetting their normal breathing - gasping - fails. The new data suggest disturbances in serotonin regulation may underlie the gasping problem.
The federally funded study used a slice of brain stem containing a key portion of the respiratory neural network in mice. Researchers chemically induced "gasping" as it manifests in the brain network. When the scientists used an antagonist
to block serotonin receptors, the gasping was blocked as well.
The researchers, from institutions in the U.S. and Mexico, caution that extensive study is needed in living creatures. Still, they write, the experiment raises the "intriguing possibility" that by interfering with gasping, serotonin disruptions are what keep children who experience SIDS from waking up.
More Clinical News was compiled by Karen Patterson,
a managing editor for Nursing Spectrum.
Reader Comments
Login