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Jingle Pills: A Holiday Safety Song Lyrics by Washington Poison Center To the tune of Jingle Bells The holidays are here, 🎶 Chorus: Weekly pill reminders, 🎶 Chorus: This season, stay alert, 🎶 Chorus: In all seriousness, be extra careful with medications this holiday season. One of the most common holiday calls we get is about a child swallowing a grandparent’s medication. This usually happens when the grandparent keeps their pills out in their room or on the counter, in their purse/suitcase, and/or when they use pill boxes or other non-child resistant containers (like a pill vial with non-child resistant cap). Older adults are often on multiple medications that can cause potentially serious effects in young children. For example, medications to treat high blood pressure, opioids for pain, medications for diabetes, or medications to help you sleep. Any of these alone can be dangerous, but the combinations can be more of an issue. Cannabis edibles brought into the home are also a common call. These are routinely discovered once a child’s urine is tested and positive for marijuana. Unfortunately, many of these patients undergo an extensive evaluation including head CT, lumbar puncture, and blood draws. How can you prevent this? · Identify a storage spot for medications that is out of sight and out of reach of kids. Even better, use a locking cabinet or lock box. · Don’t store medications in your purse or bag. · Ask visitors to put their purse or bag up and away and show them your designated safe storage spot for meds. Call your local poison center (1-800-222-1222) if you think something was ingested. We can assess the individual situation and provide guidance for next steps. submitted by /u/WAPoisonCenter-WAPC |
