Jacksonville, Fla. – Every 30 seconds a child is poisoned in the United States and summer is a time when children as well as families are on the move. While poisonings can happen at any time, risks increase during the warmer months. Snake or spider bites, poison ivy, lighter fluid from barbecues, garden chemicals, alcohol, and sunburn medications are just some common summertime poison hazards.
In 2001, the Florida Poison Information Center-Jacksonville reported moderate or life-threatening complications from 621 scorpion stings; 479 bites by black widow or brown recluse spiders; 114 snake bites, with 61 being from rattlesnakes; and 169 exposures to wild mushrooms. More than 1,000 exposures alone are from hydrocarbon substances-375 from gasoline and 106 from lighter fluid.
Did you know that if lighter fluid gets ingested it could easily go down the wrong way and get in your lungs, causing pneumonia within a few hours? The liquid also spreads out over the inner surface of your lungs and prevents oxygen from entering your blood stream. Charcoal lighter fluid and other hydrocarbons like gasoline, paint thinner, baby oil and furniture polish must be stored in their original child-resistant containers and locked out of sight of small children. If someone swallows lighter fluid or other possible poisons, call the poison center immediately.
FPIC-Jacksonville urges every family to keep the new nationwide poison center hotline number, 1-800-222-1222, near every phone. The lifesaving, toll-free hotline connects residents to poison treatment and prevention experts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you would like to learn more summer safety tips, log on to www.1-800-222-1222.info and take the online safety quiz about some common summer poison dangers created by the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
FPIC-Jacksonville, housed on the campus of Shands Jacksonville, serves 42 counties in the northern and eastern coastal sections of Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands, providing emergency diagnostic and treatment information to 139 hospitals as well as more than 120 emergency medical service agencies.