Each day in the United States, approximately 100 young children are brought to hospital emergency rooms after they find and get into medicines that are left within their sight and reach.
Many medicines and supplements – including those in gummy form – look like candy (Figure 1), and it can be difficult for young children (and even adults) to tell the difference (Figure 2, see below). It is important to teach young children that medicine is not candy and that they should never take medicines on their own. Parents, grandparents, and other caregivers should always keep all medicines, vitamins, and other supplements(including those in gummy form) Up and Away and out of children’s sight and reach.
Here's what you can do: Here are some important tips to help parents, grandparents, and other caregivers keep young children safe:
Store medicines in a safe location that is too high for young children to see or reach.
Never leave medicines or supplements out on a kitchen counter or at a sick child’s bedside, even if you must give the medicine again in a few hours.
Always relock the safety cap on a medicine bottle. If it has a locking cap that turns, twist it until you can’t twist anymore or until you hear the “click.”
Tell children what medicine is and why you or another trusted caregiver must be the one to give it to them.
Never tell children medicine is candy, even if they don’t like to take their medicine.
Remind babysitters, houseguests, and visitors to keep purses, bags, or coats that have medicines in them up and away and out of sight when they’re in your home.
Call Poison Help at 800.222.1222 right away if you think your child might have gotten into a medicine, vitamin, or other supplement (including those in gummy form) even if you are not completely sure.
Taking Your Medicine Correctly After Discharge from the Hospital
If you or a family member has been hospitalized, the first few days after returning home can be confusing. You may have prescriptions to fill for new medicines. You may need to restart some medicines or stop others that you were taking before your hospitalization. Or you may need to take these medicines in different doses, or at different times. These changes may cause you to make a mistake as you try to figure out what medicines to take or how to take them now that you are home.
Your pharmacy may provide you with some prescription medicines still in their original boxes. These include ointments and creams, asthma inhalers, certain eye and ear drops, and even pills. Your pharmacist may then place a label with directions for taking or using this medicine on the outside box, not on the medicine container inside.
Most people wouldn’t think twice about the potential for harm when applying over-the-counter creams, lotions, ointments, sprays or patches to the skin. However, we recently received a report about a patient who was hospitalized for burns after using an over-the-counter (OTC) cream for muscle pain. The patient, who was using ICY HOT Medicated Patches, sustained 2 nd degree burns over the area of his chest where the patch had been placed. The size of the burn was reported to be 9 cm by 5.5 cm (about 3 ½ inches by 2 inches). Fortunately, the patient is now fine.