Caregiver in West Palm Beach FL
The thought of one of your aging loved ones ingesting a poisonous substance is frightening, but household poisoning is a real risk that family caregivers must face in their care journeys, particularly when caring for seniors with cognitive limitations, such as Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. Household poisoning can happen extremely quickly and can be caused by any number of common items from dish liquid to multipurpose cleaners. Knowing how to respond should you encounter such a situation can mean the difference between your senior getting through the incident without issue, and there being lasting consequences.
Use these tips to understand household poisoning and how to administer first aid should such a poisoning incident occur:
• Know the dangers. Awareness starts with educating yourself, and when it comes to household poisoning, the best education you can give yourself starts with an exploration of your aging loved ones’ home. Go through each room of the house taking note of every chemical you encounter. These can be cleaners, air fresheners, detergents, paints, polishes, and anything else that is potentially ingestible and not intended for consumption. Once you have a list, make particular note of the ones that could be confusing to your parents if they have cognitive limitations, such as cleaners that look like juice products or air fresheners that have pictures of food on the front. Research each of these products to find out what is in them and their risks.
• Know the warning signs. If your aging parent consumes something that may be poisonous, it is unlikely that you will actually be watching when it happens. More likely you will notice the signs of potential poisoning and find the container of what was consumer. This is why it is important to recognize the symptoms of a person who may have consumed a household poison. These warning signs include redness around the mouth and lips, vomiting, drowsiness, breathing challenges, confusion, breath that smells chemical in nature.
• Do not treat. Not all poisons react the same within the body, so there is no one way that you should treat a person who suspect may have consumed poison. Drinking milk can help if your senior drank certain compounds, for example, but could actually worsen the situation if he swallowed a button battery. Likewise, inducing vomiting is correct for some poisons and extremely dangerous for others.
• Call poison control. If you suspect poisoning and there are no symptoms, your first call should be to the poison control center. They can give you recommendations for how to handle the situation, whether your parent needs to go for immediate medical attention or should just be under observation at home. Make sure that you can give thorough information including what type of poison you suspect he consumes, how much of it, what types of symptoms he is demonstrating, and his personal information including his age, health conditions, and any medications he is currently taking.
• Call 911. In some situations it is vital that you call 911 immediately rather than first calling poison control. These situations include if your loved one is unconscious or severely drowsy, not breathing or struggling to breath, seizing, extremely agitated, or known to have purposely consumed a large amount of a poisonous substance.
If you or a family member near West Palm Beach, FL are in need of caregiver services, call the caring professionals at Star Multi Care today at (954) 870-4770. Providing Service in Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Pompano Beach, Delray Beach, Coconut Creek, Taramac, Margate, and surrounding Florida cities.
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