First Aid: Poisonings

A poison is anything a person swallows, breaths, or gets into their eyes that causes sickness, injury, or death. Many common everyday products can be poisonous to a person. Evaluate any potential poisoning situation with due regard for you own personal safety. Wear PPE if appropriate and available. Move the victim from the scene of the poisoning if possible. Call 911 and contact the poison control center for information on how to treat the poisoning situation. Poison control can be contacted at 800-222-1222 or at www.aapcc.org. Your 911 dispatcher may be able to contact poison control for you in many situations.

If you can identify the substance, MSDS or Material Safety Data Sheets may provide information to help identify potential hazards and symptoms or effects.

Remove the poison from the victims skin and clothing if possible. If faced with a dry chemical, brush it off the skin with a gloved hand and do not apply water as it may activate the substance. If believed safe, flush the skin, eyes, and contaminated areas with water for at least 20 minutes or until emergency personnel arrive. If dealing with an eye exposure and only one eye is affected, make sure you have the affected eye lower than the unaffected eye when flushing to keep from cross contaminating. Never induce vomiting or give the victim anything by mouth.