Every day 300 children are poisoned at home and end up in the emergency room. Sadly, odds are that two of those children will die. We’ve talked here about being vigilant when sourcing child-appealing products, because chemicals and cleaners could easily find their way into an inquiring child’s mouth. You need to look no further than the packaging changes to the original brightly colored laundry pods for an example of that.
But, not everything a child ingests at home is life-threatening. “Kids are curious and explore the world with their mouths in addition to their hands and eyes,” Suzan Mazor, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital, told KING-TV. Mazor is an emergency room doctor who has experienced all levels of childhood poisoning and she says if a child is ill or not breathing, certainly you should call 911 right away.
However, if there are no obvious symptoms but parents are still concerned about what their child may have swallowed, there is a new online “Poison 411” resource site: PoisonHelp.org that I wanted to help spread the word about.
“Instead of just searching a random search website, we are hoping parents use Poison Help,” said Mazor. Parents answer five quick questions about how the child is doing, and other symptoms the child may have, and then press search. “The next screen that comes up gives advice of whether parents should call 911, call the poison center, or if it's something that's going to give them no problem.” Heading into the holiday season, with guests not necessarily making packages and luggage “child proof,” this should offer some peace of mind.
Speaking of your peace of mind, how can you know if a product you are considering selling has been recalled? It is illegal to sell a product subject to a recall, but, as you might imagine, it happens on consumer resale websites all the time. On accident, or on purpose, direct sales from the Far East can also circumvent recalls currently in place. Where can you look to find recalled products, or those similar in the product category? The government keeps lists of product recalls online. For CPSC recalls, go to cpsc.gov/recalls. The CPSC isn’t the only government agency that manages recalls, you can try searching recalls.gov for USDA, FDA, NHTSA, and other agencies’ recalls.
For your safety at home, and the safety of your clients, there really is no substitute for vigilance when it comes to product safety. In the end, it pays to initially trust that products you buy are safe, but then do everything you can to verify that yourself.
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for 40 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. You can find him still advising Global 500 Brands on promo product initiatives, working as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, traveling the world with his lovely wife, or enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Follow Jeff on Twitter, or reach out to him at jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.