Poison control centers warn of holiday hazards for small kids

Poison control centers tend to see an uptick in calls around the holidays as changes in routine introduce new household hazards into children’s lives.

“We see kids getting into the candles, eating tinsel off the Christmas tree, wrapping paper, portions of a Christmas tree light or ornament,” said Bryan Kuhn, pharmacist and clinical toxicologist with Banner Poison and Drug Information Center in Phoenix.

Kuhn said when small children are unwrapping gifts or playing with holiday decorations, his top concern is that they could ingest a small button- or disk-style battery.

“Button batteries are, from our standpoint, a medical emergency. Almost uniformly, we will send these children into an emergency department,” Kuhn said, adding that batteries can cause serious damage to the esophagus within minutes or hours of ingestion.

Kuhn said other accidental ingestions this time of year often occur when house guests arrive for the holidays with medications or other substances that aren’t fully child-proofed.

“Everyone in the household needs to understand where the potential hazards exist and what prevention strategies have been put in place, such that you keep things out of sight and out of reach of children," Kuhn said.

If accidental ingestions do happen, Kuhn said poison control centers can provide 24/7 advice on whether a trip to the emergency room is necessary.

“We can provide what symptoms to look for, what treatment, if any, could be done at home,” Kuhn said. “And we’ll often make a follow-up call after the initial call just to check in with the patient.”

The nationwide number for poison control is 800-222-1222.