Interlude

Do you know what to do in the event your child is accidentally poisoned? How many of you know the number for your local or regional poison control agency? Is it posted near your telephone?

Before we go any further, no, we don't have a tragic story to tell. What prompted us to write was our quest to find syrup of ipecac - a lovely concoction to induce vomiting when prescribed by poison control (a pamphlet we picked up on Poison Safety recommended that all homes with children have some on hand). However, none of our local pharmacies stocked it - from the small store to the mega mart, not a drop of ipecac. We asked the pharmacists - why no ipecac? None had an answer, all offered to order it, but we deferred. Why was it so hard to get?

In 2003, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement that ipecac should no longer be used to treat any poisoning. Research has show that although ipecac reliably induces vomiting, patients treated with ipecac fare no better than patients who did not receive ipecac. Further, vomiting is not always an appropriate treatment. Ipecac can interfere with appropriate poison treatment medicines. Finally, syrup of ipecac is often used inappropriately by individuals with eating disorders.

So what do you do if you suspect your child has been poisoned? Call poison control immediately. In the US, these centers are staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Find your poison control number at the American Association of Poison Control Centers, then post it in a conspicuous place.