Jenny Hutchinson: Right. Well she is not quite old enough yet. She is not quite on her feet and opening cupboards, but it won't be long. So what do I do when she in the terrible instant, she would get up a poison or drink something she is not supposed to, that's harmful?
Steve Furnell: Well, she is not going to be that far off from that age, is she?
Jenny Hutchinson: No, no.
Steve Furnell: And children do go into cupboards, and we always emphasize prevention is better than cure. There are two main types of prevention. First of all, is educating children but that not to go into those cupboards. However, we can't watch children all the time and that can be quite difficult. And the instance does happen, when they do go into cupboards, so again, prevention can be better than cure. Make sure you keep things out of hand's reach, not just in the kitchen environment, where we are today, but also in the bathroom, in the toilet. People always keep toilet cleaners behind the bath and things like that. Cupboards, underneath the kitchen sink is where everyone knows all the cleaning materials are kept.
Jenny Hutchinson: You think about that cupboard but --
Steve Furnell: You need to make sure they are kept up and out of arm's reach. Sometimes, children still do ingest things, and we know these as poisons. Sometimes you might know what it is, sometimes you might not. There are two key things you must not do to start off with. The first of them is you mustn't actually try and induce vomiting, because if you actually make them vomit that could make it worse if it's a corrosive material.
Jenny Hutchinson: Oh, I see!
Steve Furnell: So we don't want to induce any vomiting. And we also advice, don't give him anything to eat or drink to start off with. In hospital, they might do that once they know what it is.
Jenny Hutchinson: Right. So you don't try and get water down them.
Steve Furnell: Not straight away. What you can do, if you are unsure as to whether they really have swallowed something or not, phone NHS Direct. They are a very good service; they can give you advice over the telephone on what to do, especially if you know what the poison is. There are certain units around the country, where NHS organizations confirm those units to find out what to do for particular poisons. If you aren't sure and you really don't know what to do, you can always dial 999 for an ambulance or advice.
If you are worried, you can always take the child up to where you need yourself. If you can't get it, you could use 999 for an ambulance.
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