A Poison Plan

FPIES presents so many situations that I never would have considered.  2 days ago Carter was in the garage and got hold of some chemicals. In his obsessive desire to eat anything and everything, he ate some. How much? I wasn’t sure, but it obviously didn’t taste good and he spit it out. We quickly consulted the product about what to do in case of ingestion.  The product said not to induce vomiting and to give the 2 glasses of milk or water. I washed his mouth out and got him to drink some water. I don’t think he swallowed any and is doing just fine.

But this got me thinking, what are the common recommendations for ingesting chemicals? After some research, there are a lot of recommendations to consume 2 to 4 glasses of milk and eat bread. A simple solution for your average kid, but a terrifying prospect for an FPIES or other food allergic child. It then becomes a game of the Lesser of Two Evils. What will the chemical do to my child? I know what consuming that much milk or bread will do to him; weeks of pain,  loose stool, rash, inability to absorb nutrients, weight loss, sleepless nights, respiratory infection, the list goes on and on. Certainly some chemicals can cause serious side effects as well, but a lot of these household products expect that you treat these things at home, that they aren’t too serious. For us, they would be very serious. I think our only choice would be to call an ambulance and have him admitted so they could pump his stomach.

Until a couple days ago, I never even thought to have a poison plan for Carter. I thought I’d just contact the Poison Control Center and follow their lead. Now I realize that Carter’s situation is outside of that box as well. We have been walking this maze for almost 3 years, and I am still learning as I go.

All products have an MSDS, Material Safety Data Sheet, and by law they must be available for free. You can find them by searching “MSDS” and the name of the product in your internet search engine. The Poison Control Center is available 24/7 at 1-800-222-1222. They also have an iPhone app that will connect you directly to the poison control center with the push of a button. You can find the app by searching “poison help”. The app is free. Do you have a plan for your child?