Statistics

Injury and poisonings are the leading cause of death and a major cause of disability among all Australian children. For every child that dies from injury, many more are admitted to hospital for treatment, and others are treated in the emergency departments.

Each year in Australia 3500 children are hospitalised because of poisoning. This makes poisoning the second most common cause of children being admitted to Hospital.

Also, in Australia more than 240,000 calls are made annually to the Poisons Information Centre.

The Main Offenders

1.Pharmacutical products

2.Household products

3.Insects

4.Cosmetics and personal hygiene

5. Pesticides

What are the most common poisons?

1. Medicines: both adult and children's.

Medicines are involved in more child poisonings than any other substances.

Examples:

• Paracetamol used for pain and fever (cold and infant drops and syrup)
• Liquid cough and cold medicines
• Tablet and other medicines (e.g. contraceptive pills and antibiotics)

2. Common Household products.

Common household products are the second most common cause of child poisonings.

• Household products
• Rat baits, cockroach baits and garden sprays
• Mineral turpentine, kerosene and petrol
• Detergent for dishwashing machines

Other poisons include:

• Eucalyptus Oil
• Plants and mushrooms
• Cigarettes and cigarette butts.

Statistics for who are most at risk?

Children between 1 and 4 years because:

• They are extremely curious and active
• They tend to put every thing in their mouths
• Their taste buds and sense of smell aren't developed to warn them that a substance is dangerous because it tastes or smells awful.

How does a child poisoning happen?

Children are more likely to access poisons when the poisons are:

• In use at the time
• Before they have been locked away safely or
• When they are left out for later use.

Common ways that poisonings can occur...

• Putting your medicine on a table and forgetting to put it away
• Using rat baits in and around the house
• Putting your shopping on the floor prior to packing it away
• Having your child's vaporizer running without supervision
• Leaving your medication in your handbag.

Injury Prevention

Each year about 300 children (aged 0-14 years) are killed and 60,000 hospitalised by unintentional injury. The kind that are often referred to as accidents. Many of these can be easy prevented by simple means.

Injury is the leading cause of death in Australian children aged 0-14 years old.

Injury and poisoning is a major cause of death and disability among children in Australia.

Follow the guidelines and advice that are offered from our support network. Lock your cupboards, take expired medication back to the pharmacy and think about poison and injury prevention.

Yuk to Kids Tips...

• Store chemicals and poisons correctly
• Dispose of old chemicals and medicine properly
• Never call medication 'lollies'
• Use child resistant caps
• Always read the label
• Check your garden plants
• Lock up
• Put away out of reach.