Preventing Kids From Getting Into 'Child-Resistant' Medicine Bottles
A family goes through a terrible ordeal -- one that could have been prevented.
Dec. 24, 2009— -- It is the kind of reunion every military family hopes for: one filled with hugs, joy, and relief at coming home.
It's the kind of homecoming Air Force Capt. Kevin Lombardo wishes he'd had four years ago.
The day after Christmas that year, Lombardo was still in Baghdad. His wife Billie was home with their children. Their 3-year-old twins managed to open a child-resistant bottle of prescription medication. Kevin Jr. and Chloe swallowed the pills inside.
"I had no idea how they could have gotten that," Billie said, crying." It was a blur."
Kevin Jr. pulled out of a coma days later. His sister Chloe didn't make it.
"Even four years later, it's still hard," Billie said.
The Lombardos' story is a tragic example of just how dangerous medicines can be.
Pediatrician Kevin Osterhoudt says that probably 100,000 children end up in the emergency room each year after getting into prescription medication bottles.
He says the holidays can be a particularly dangerous time -- as he learned in his own home.
"I got a frantic call from my wife because she found my son -- then about a year of age -- with a pill in his mouth. That pill had come from the medicines that my father had brought to my house with him for the holiday."
His son was fine -- but the incident is an example of what Osterhoudt calls "the granny effect."
"There have been some studies that suggest that as many as 10 to 20 percent of children's exposure to medicines may actually be exposures to their grandparents' medicines."
Part of the problem is the pill organizers that many seniors and travelers use. Children as young as 4 -- who have recently learned the alphabet -- seem to like the letters on those pillboxes.
And while child-resistant bottles can help, they aren't childproof. It's important to check that the caps are on properly. If you don't hear that click, it's not child-reistant, Osterhoudt says.
There are other things parents can do: don't take medication in front of children, who tend to mimic adult behaviors. And don't let them know where medicines are stored.
"We need to keep medicines out of reach, out of sight and out of mind, so if children don't know that they're in the cabinet in the first place, they're out of mind," said Osterhoudt.
The Lombardos now keep all their medicines, cleaners and toxic substances in a locked box. They will spend another Christmas together as a family -- without Chloe. They say they hope other families will learn from their tragedy.