National Poison Prevention Week is March 18–24. The week brings focus to the dangers of poisonings for people of all ages and is a chance to raise awareness, reduce unintentional (accidental) poisonings, and promote poison prevention.

A poison is anything, including medication, that is harmful to someone’s body if too much is eaten, breathed in, injected, or absorbed through the skin. Accidental poisoning occurs when a person taking or giving too much of a substance did not mean to cause harm.

In Barry and Eaton counties between 2009 and 2014, there were 91 deaths from accidental poisoning. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), half of all calls to poison control centers about contact with potentially harmful substances involve children under the age of 6. Adults aged 20–59 make up the next biggest group, with about a quarter of the calls.

Residents can help prevent poisonings by following the below tips. Additional important poisoning prevention safety tips can be found at https://goo.gl/9np8c7.

• Lock them up and away. Keep medicine, household cleaners, chemicals (e.g., laundry pods), and other toxic products in their original containers and in a place where children can’t see or get them.
• Read the label. Make sure to read all the warning labels on medicines, household cleaners, chemicals, and other toxic products. Some medicine isn’t safe to mix with others or with alcohol.  Never mix chemicals or household products (e.g., ammonia, bleach) together.
• Don’t keep it if you don’t need it. Safely dispose of prescription and over-the-counter medicine, vitamins, and supplements that aren’t used or needed or that are expired. To dispose of medicines, mix them with coffee grounds or kitty litter and throw them away. You can also turn them in at a take-back event. Visit https://goo.gl/f9QXDC to see when there are take-back events in Barry and Eaton counties.
• Know what to do. Call 911 if there is a poison emergency and the victim has collapsed or is not breathing. If the victim is awake and alert, dial 1-800-222-1222 (the nationwide poison control center phone number). Try to have the victim’s age and weight, the container of the poison, and the time and address where the poisoning occurred.