2 weeks Ago By Matt Henson
GRAND FORKS — During a WDAY News 30-minute newscast, three children in the U.S. will be hospitalized after breaking into a pill bottle.
As part of National Poison Prevention Week, a Grand Forks nurse is raising awareness to ensure medications are kept out of reach of children. ADVERTISEMENT It wasn’t a typical after-school activity for preschoolers in Grand Forks — parents knowingly allowed their children to play with pill bottles. “It was pretty mind-blowing,” said Mara Thorsen, a mother who attended the event.
Safe Kids Grand Forks laid out nearly 50 empty medicine bottles to show how easily children can open them. Most children were able to pop the tops off. "As a parent, it's concerning to see that and definitely makes me think about what are my medications at home and do I maybe need to re-evaluate what that looks like," Thorsen said.
"Medications are the leading cause of poisoning for kids," said Carma Hanson, coordinator for Safe Kids Grand Forks. According to Safe Kids Grand Forks, every 10 minutes a child in the U.S.
goes to the emergency room after ingesting medication. Every hour, a child is hospitalized. Every 12 days, a child dies from medication poisoning.
Hanson said many parents don’t realize that pill bottle caps are not actually childproof. "They are called what is called child-resistant, meaning it will slow kids down, but it doesn't prohibit them from totally getting into it," Hanson said. ADVERTISEMENT For parents like Thorsen, the event served as an eye-opening reminder of the dangers.
"You have chaos at home and kids running around, and one kid is off doing something — you don't know what they are doing. They could have gotten into medication and eaten a whole bottle by the time you realize they aren't with the rest of the family," Thorsen said. Hanson said parents can buy lockboxes to secure medications and should always keep them out of reach.
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