National Poison Prevention Week 2006

Press Release # 06-115

Transcript


TEXT: About 85,000 children younger than 5 years old visited U.S. hospital emergency rooms due to unintentional poisonings in 2004 - about one every six minutes, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported today. Most of these poisonings included products commonly found in the home.
The data were released today by CPSC, the National Poison Prevention Week Council, and the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) at a news conference to kick-off National Poison Prevention Week. CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton said that we have also found that 9 out of 10 child poisonings take place at home with the most common household products.

TEXT: Soundbites, CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton

Hal Stratton: "To me, this particular law is one of the real success stories that we have when it comes to product safety and government involvement. In the early 60's we had something like 450 deaths per year from accidental poisonings, and we've got that down to 30. Now 30 is too many and I'll tell you right now we want it down to zero, but just imagine the magnitude of that reduction that we've seen. If we could do that in every area, we would be in great shape. This is a huge success story."

Hal Stratton: "In 2004, they estimated 85,000 children younger than five years old visited U.S. hospital emergency rooms because of unintentional poisonings. That's one child visiting an emergency room every six minutes as a result of poisoning."

TEXT: Sound Bite, Poison Prevention Week: Council Chair, Nancy Bock

Nancy Bock: "Prevention is the key to reducing potential risks in the home. A combination of safe use and storage of all household products along with supervision can substantially reduce the number of accidents in our homes."

TEXT: Sound Bite: Kathy Wruk, President of the American Association of Poison Control Centers

Kathy Wruk: "The cornerstone to every poison prevention plan is placing the poison center toll-free number on every phone in your home. The 24-hour number to reach any poison center in the United States is 1-800-222-1222. Nurses, pharmacists and docutors, and specialists in poison information who are trained in poison management can help with your poison emergency. Call the poison center immediately if you think that someone has swallowed, touched, or inhaled a poison."

TEXT: Sound Bites: Kirsty Thompson, a mom who contacted her local poison center after her then 2-year-old daughter, Kara, swallowed an adult strength prescription medicine found in another parent's purse. Kara was at a friend's house on a play date.

Kristy Thompson: "And I walked into a crisis. Kara had taken prescription pills, they had found them in her mouth and one of my friends was calling poison control. I spoke to the woman at poison control and she was concerned about the medications that Kara had possibly ingested. She directed me to go to the emergency room and when I arrived at the emergency room with Kara, they had the information about Kara so that she could receive care quickly and efficiently."

Kristy Thompson: "Kara was ok, she was fine, thank goodness. They ran some tests with her and had her drink some charcoal and did an EKG, and took some blood, and after a few hours of observation, they determined that she was ok to go home."

Kristy Thompson: "However, even when you do the best that you can, situations happen. Accidents happen, and reacting the best that you can to the situation by calling poison control and having their number available is just so important."

Kristy Thompson: "No, I wouldn't want this to happen to anybody else. Just be very vigilant about where you put your medications, and store it in a child-proof container, out of children's reach, and always know where your children are and what they're doing. Things happen quickly, and in a short amount of time, accidents can happen and if you are ever in a situation, have poison control's phone number available so that you can make the call and get the help that you need."

TEXT: B-Roll, Kristy and Kara playing and interacting with younger sister Jenna.

(View of Kristy and her daughters playing with a set of blocks and talking quietly. View of Kristy feeding her daughters)

TEXT: B-Roll
(View of child reaching into a purse and taking out a pill box. He shakes it around and then tries to open it).

(View of assortment of pill boxes on a table).

(View of child trying to open a child-resistant medication bottle, but not succeeding).

(View of adult opening a number of different bottles with child-proof caps and showing the directions on the tops of some of the caps, then closing them so that they click closed).

(View of a child-lock being placed on a cabinet).

(View of a child running into a kitchen and opening cabinets).

(View of adult reaching into a cabinet and taking out household cleaners to place them in a more safely located cabinet, out of reach of the child).

(View of child lock on a cabinet being secured by an adult, then being tested to ensure that the cabinet cannot be opened).

(View of adult putting a poison control sticker on the telephone).

TEXT: Poison Prevention Safety Tips:
Parents and caregivers should follow these basic poison prevention tips to reduce the risk of unintentional poisonings:


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