National Poison Prevention Week Hopes To Prevent Unintentional Deaths

(CBS4) -- National Poison Prevention Week happens every year during the third full week of March. This year, that's March 20-26. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, the week focuses on the dangers of poisoning and promotes community involvement in preventing them.

One statistic says poisonings are the third leading cause of unintentional injury death in children.

"The most common poisonings that happen are not intentional and they're often with things that we commonly find in the household like medications, plants, cleaning products and cosmetics," said Melanie Wuzzardo, an injury prevention manager at Swedish Medical Center.

She adds that you want to make sure to contain those products and keep them away from other products like food. That means keeping them in separate cabinets to prevent poisonings.

If one thing is near another similar looking thing, a child may not be able to tell the difference.

Wuzzardo said blue Gatorade can be confused with blue mouthwash or windshield wiper fluid. Red Hots could resemble pills.

"If I can hardly tell the difference… should we really be expecting our kids to?" said Wuzzardo.

Distractions can also lead to accidental poisonings, primarily during a busy time of day. That's why it's important to have conversations about the dangers between products.

Poison control is an important number for parents or caregivers to have but if you don't have it available, you can call 1-800-222-1222. That's the national poison control number that's available any time.

Of course, for emergencies, call 911 right away.