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15
13 What to do to avoid
accidental poisoning
Curious children can lead to unforeseen and potentially
dangerous situations. Greater awareness is needed, not only for
the parents of small children.
What can you do to avoid accidental poisoning?
• Store poisonous or toxic items in cupboards with safety locks,
including medicine, household chemicals, cleaning products,
alcohol and gardening pesticides.
• Keep handbags, shopping bags and hand sanitiser out of reach.
• Make sure that visiting guests' medicine is out of the reach of
small children and stored away.
• Choose child-proof medicine packaging where possible.
• Never store anything not meant for human consumption
in packaging associated with food and drink. Keep cleaning
packaging in its original packaging.
• Never tell children that medicine is a sweet or a cool drink.
• Curious children might look through your luggage when travelling,
be aware of this.
• If you have any reason to suspect accidental poisoning, do not
wait for symptoms to develop. Rather, seek medical treatment
urgently.
