Recent conversation with my mother:
Me: “It says ‘call poison control immediately!”
Her: “I don’t even know what happened to poison control?”
Panic sets in.
Our daughter had come into the room with a tube of Benadryl topical gel that was oozing down the sides, all over her hands, and knowing her, in her mouth. After being an idiot and calling our pediatrician, she gave me the poison control number (“googling it” did not even occur to me because my brain went straight into panic mode!). Little Miss is fine but when it was all said and done, I was a pool of goo and sick to my stomach for being so unprepared.
Below I share some resources but before reading any further, I urge you to save 1-800-222-1222 in your phone contacts straight away if you have not already, or you can text 797979 to save the contact information for poison control in your phone. It’s free and immediate.
Go ahead.
I’m waiting.
Did you know there are currently 55 poison control centers in the U.S. that serve their designated geographic area? Calling the Poison Help Line 1-800-222-1222 connects you to your local center. Being DC, don’t you know the association of poison control centers is located right here in Alexandria, VA.
When I needed poison control, I wanted an immediate answer by talking to a person. If your emergency is not an emergency, you can also use poisonhelp.org for searchable answers, but save 1-800-222-1222 in your phone.
Okay. Now let’s do some shopping.
The National Capital Poison Center
The National Capital Poison Center, our local poison control center, says 42% of calls made in 2018 involved children younger than six and 92% of pediatric poisonings were safely treated at home and did not need further medical treatment.
The center offers free printed materials for shipping to the DC Metro area–cards, brochures and basic poison prevention materials, like their magnet with the Poison Help Line phone number. Is your neighborhood full of kids? Do you know a family with a child 12-36 months old? Are you going to a baby shower soon? Order extra and share widely.
The center has their own web tool called Web Poison Control for online triage. You can also follow the center on social media via Facebook and Twitter.
The Iconic Mr. Yuk
As a child of the 80’s, I remember Mr. Yuk’s stickers vividly!
Mr. Yuk™’s trademarked graphic image, was created by the Pittsburgh Poison Center at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. This is the first recognized poison prevention/poison center awareness symbol in the US. This year, I may suggest “Mr. Yuk” as a halloween costume because he is still terrifying to me as an adult.
If you want to similarly ingrain this image in your own kids, you can request a free sheet of these stickers by sending a self-addressed stamped business size envelope to:
Mr. Yuk
Pittsburgh Poison Center
200 Lothrop Street
PFG 01-01-01
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
There is additional merchandise in their online store, like magnets and brochures or get a Home Pack available for $11.00.
Poison Control Safety is Nothing New
As you may remember, we currently live with my mother and grandmother (#multigenerationalhousehold). According to Mr. Yuk, home with seniors can be dangerous for children! Through living the dream, I know this to be fact. For example, my grandmother takes medication in the morning and evening. My kids see this every day. So that we all remember for her to take them, the daily pill box stays on the kitchen table at her seat. I’m sure the kitchen table is where The Very Curious Little Miss got the tube of Benadryl.
You want to think that you will never need the service of poison control, until you do. Instead of taking my word for it, check out these other accounts from across the City Mom Collective like Albuquerque, New Orleans, Madison, WI, Portland, OR, Birmingham, AL. I wager the themes of these stories ring true for many mommas:
- “I was doing 16 things at once”
- the thing about judgment
- “I felt like the “Worst Mom Ever”
A little forgiveness goes a long way and Poison Control is an invaluable resource.
Stay safe, y’all and when the unexpected happens, Poison Control is alive and well to keep us safe.
