skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Every 12 Days, a Child Dies from Accidental Poisoning

play audio
Play

Tuesday, March 20, 2018   

FRANKFORT, Ky. – March is Poison Prevention Month, and this week, through Saturday, is National Poison Prevention Week.

Accidental medicine poisoning sends a child younger than age six to an emergency room every nine minutes in this country - and every 12 days, a child dies.

The Kentucky Poison Control Center says it handles more than 130 calls daily, and more than half involve children under age five.

Morag Mackay, director of research for the group Safe Kids Worldwide, says many poisonings are the result of accidental ingestion of medications.

"Parents often don't realize how quickly these events can occur," she warns. "And whether the child is at home or maybe visiting grandma and grandpa, you can be supervising your child and you turn around for just a couple of minutes - and when you turn back, the child has access to medicine if it's not stored safely."

Mackay says small children like to mimic adults and might think medicine is candy because some is brightly colored. Because kids can be pretty curious and determined, she recommends medications be kept out of sight and out of reach, even if they're in child-resistant containers. She explains that parents might be a little confused about what that means.

"We found that half of them think child-resistant means childproof, and in fact, that is not the case," she explains. "Child-resistant packaging is designed to make it harder for the child to get into the medicine, but it's not completely impossible."

Safe Kids Worldwide has released a report on efforts to educate people about accidental medicine poisonings. It finds headway is being made, but that there are still too many children being harmed.

The toll-free Poison Help Hotline is 800-222-1222.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021