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Medication Safety in the Home: Protect Your Children & Prevent Accidental Ingestions

6 tips to safely store medicine

Resources

Safe Medication Storage Flyer | en español

YouTube Playlist

Press Release | Launch Video

Poison Control Center Hotline – 800.222.1222

Prescription Drug Disposal Locations – KY Office Of Drug Control Policy

Controlled Substance Public Disposal Locations – US DOJ Diversion Control Division

Protect Your Children: Store & Use Medicines Safely – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

YouTube Playlist : Medication Safety in the Home PSAs

In ER visits for medicine poisonings, parents often say that they only turned their back for ONE MINUTE.

Tip: Use reminder tools (like calendars or an alarm on your phone) to remember when to take or give medication instead of leaving it out.

LESS THAN 1 IN 4 caregivers use safe storage practices for medication at home.1

Tip: Keep prescriptions, over the counter medication, and vitamins in their original, child-resistant containers and up and away at all times.

EVERY 9 MINUTES, a young child goes to the ER because they got into medicine.

Tip: If you have guests, remind them to never leave loose pills or liquid medication on tables or counters.

NEARLY 1 IN 6 of all child fatalities and near fatalities in Kentucky were related to the ingestion of substances.2

Tip: Talk to your children about what medication is and why you must be the one to give it to them.

Sources

Thank you to Safe Kids Worldwide and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for providing content.

This publication was supported by Grant or Cooperative Agreement number NU17CE924971, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.

1 Salzman, M, Cruz, L., Nairn, S., Bechmann, S., Karmakar, R. & Baumann, B.M. (2019). The prevalence of modifiable parental behaviors associated with inadvertent pediatric medication ingestions. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 20(2), 269-277.

2 Kentucky Child Fatality and Near Fatality External Review Panel 2020 Annual Report