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Show Utah Safety Council offering poison warnings for children Children who ingest poisonous household products usually do so when their parents have the products pro-ducts out for use. Modern chemical conveniences make daily life easier, but they can lead to tragedy. In conjunction with National Poison Prevention Week, to be observed March 20-26, 20-26, the Utah Safety Council reminds re-minds parents that it takes only a second for a child to swallow a poisonous substance. Never leave a household product out of sight, even when answering a telephone or doorbell pick up the container and carry it with you. Most calls to poison control centers cen-ters around the country involve household cleaning products such as detergents, bleaches, disinfectants, disinfec-tants, scouring powders, oven cleaners, ammonia, etc. All cleaning clean-ing products should be locked up in a high place, out of a child's reach the kitchen, bathroom, cleaning closet and laundry room should all be child-proof. These are not the only areas that require vigilance on the part of parents; pa-rents; however, toxic products are also used in the garage and basement. base-ment. Poisons such as paints and varnishes, charcoal starter, pesticides, pesti-cides, paint thinner, petroleum products and automotive products should also be locked up when not in use. When in use, an adult should never leave these products out of sight with an unattended child. Many older adults take a number of medications, both prescription and over-the-counter, at the same time without consulting a physician. physi-cian. The council reminds people that mixing medications or taking more than the prescribed amount can be harmful or even fatal. Research shows that many older people have difficulty sorting through conflicting information when trying to figure out what is best for their health. They may be seeing specialists in addition to their family physicians, and the doctors may be prescribing medications medi-cations without knowing what other drugs the patient is taking. Older adults should keep detailed de-tailed records of the medications they take. Records should include the name of the drug, the amount prescribed, and the times of day the medication is taken. Patients should show this record to each doctor who treats them. Older adults should ask their physician about possible dangers and side effects of combining medications, medi-cations, whether they are prescription prescrip-tion or over-the-counter drugs. Take only the prescribed or recommended recom-mended amount of a druR more is not better. If an accidental poisoning is suspected, sus-pected, contact a poison control center immediately. Utah's poison control center is located in Salt Lake City, University Medical Center. Salt Lake residents can call581-2151,ortollfreel -800-662-0062 outside Salt Lake City. Keep these numbers by your phone. |