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Safe Medicine Storage for Grandparents Instructions
You love your grandchildren and would do anything for them, but did you know these startling facts?
Approximately 60,000 young children – or roughly four school busloads of children per day – are brought to the emergency room each year because they got into medicines that were left within reach.1, 2
Nearly 1 out of every 4 grandparents say they store prescription medicines in easy-access places, and 18 percent keep over-the-counter medicines in easily accessible spots.3
Don’t let your grandchildren become a statistic, take these precautions to help keep them safe:
- Keep all medicines and vitamins up and away and out of sight in a high cabinet or other place your grandchildren can’t reach or see.
- Keep purses, bags, or coats that have medicines or vitamins in them out of their reach and sight.
- Never leave medicines or vitamins out on a table, countertop, or bedside table where your grandchildren could reach them. Relock the safety cap and put them away every time you use them.
- Set a daily reminder to take your medicines and vitamins on your refrigerator or a location you check on a daily basis, since they will be safely stored up and away and out of sight.
Save the Poison Help number (800) 222-1222 in all your phones so you will have it when you need it.
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC Features – Put Your Medicines Up and Away and Out of Sight.http://www.cdc.gov/features/medicationstorage . Accessed October 10, 2012.
2. Safe Kids Worldwide. Safe Storage, Safe Dosing, Safe Kids: A Report to the Nation on Safe Medication. March 2012.
3. C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. Easy-access medicines a poisoning risk for kids at home.http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/easy-access-medicines-poisoning-risk-kids-home . Accessed November 27. 2012.