For the past two decades, September has been designated as National Baby Safety Month. Building on that general theme, officials at Eastside Fire & Rescue (EF&R) encourage parents, care-takers, and others who watch over little ones to do their part in preventing accidental ingestion of cleaning products.

Knowing that “Children act fast and so do accidents,” emergency responders at EF&R want homeowners to do some quick and simple things to reduce or avoid the risk of poisoning.

According to Deputy Chief of Operations, Greg Tryon, “Safely discarding of no longer used cleaning products is the best place to start. If an item is not there, there’s just no risk.”

In addition to limiting supplies on hand, purchasing cleaning products with multiple uses further reduces risk. Keeping cleaning supplies in original, well-marked containers is always a best practice as well. The next best protection against accidents is to have cleaning products stored in places where children are rarely, if ever, expected to be without direct supervision. Lastly, keeping cleaning supplies secured using child-proof locks is always recommended.

In recent years, the emergence of highly concentrated, single-load laundry detergent packets have caused serious medical situations for babies and children to include respiratory, eye, and digestive injuries. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), in 2013, poison centers across the country received reports of 10,387 exposures to highly concentrated packets of laundry detergent by children five years old and younger. This was up from the 6,229 exposures that occurred in 2012. The Washington Poison Control Center received 236 calls in 2013 and has already received 186 calls for 2014.

“Time spent in preventing is always better than time used in reacting” noted Tryon. However, if you suspect poisoning, and there’s no immediate or obvious threat, contact the Washington State Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. Whenever in doubt, dial 911.