Summer is the most dangerous time of year for children, which is why it’s also known as “trauma season.” These are the top five injuries that land kids in Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s Emergency Department every summer and how to avoid them. Keep your kids happy, healthy and out of the Emergency Department this summer!

1. Falls
Did you know that falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury for children?
To prevent falls at home:

• Always strap children into high chairs, swings and strollers.
• Remember that children can fall from windows opened as little as five inches.
• Never rely on window screens to prevent falls.
• Never let children play alone on fire escapes, high porches or balconies.
• Use safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs.
• Keep hallways and stairs well lit and clear of clutter.
• Make sure there is a safe surface under playground equipment. Safe surfaces include mulch, pea gravel and shredded rubber at least nine to 12 inches deep and extending at least six feet in all directions around equipment.

2. Poisonings/Ingestions

• Teach your child to recognize and avoid poisonous plants like poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac, which can cause an allergic reaction if they come in contact with the skin.
• Teach your child not to eat or touch any plants or flowers without asking you first. Many plants such as wild mushrooms and berries might look edible, yet they are poisonous. Even pretty flowers in the garden like azaleas, daffodils and rhododendron are toxic.
• In the garage, store dangerous chemicals like pesticides, gasoline, lighter fluid and  cleaners out of your child’s reach in a locked cabinet or garden shed.
• Keep chemicals in their original containers and add a Mr. Yuk™ sticker so your child knows the product is poisonous.
• If using pesticides, keep kids and pets away from the area until the pesticide has dried, or as long as recommended on the label.

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Update: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Monday, April 20, Medicine collection brings in 2.73 tons

A great way to properly dispose of outdated or unneeded medications, keep dangerous drugs out of the hands of our toddlers and teens, and protect our drinking water is by participating in Medicine Collection Day, this Saturday, April 18.

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Yesterday I was interviewed on 89.7 WUWM (NPR) about mixing prescription drugs with alcohol.  I think this was prompted by recent deaths in our area involving the prescription pain killer, Suboxone.  Some media reports suggest that there’s something magically lethal about Suboxone or that something tragic happens when this drug mixes with alcohol in your system.  The medical term that describes that multiplying effect is synergism, which means that each individual substance (drug + alcohol) contributes to toxicity, but that the effect of the two is greater than simply combining each substance’s contribution – that the whole effect is somehow greater than the sum of its parts.

The scientific data on synergism with these types of medications is really mixed and can be hard to interpret.  I was also asked whether there was some special effect of alcohol on young adults, making them more susceptible to this sort of thing.  We need to be careful not to let the meaning get lost in the message: prescription pain killers can reduce pain. They also kill people.

The sad reality is that prescription medications are available like candy in America today. Peoples’ comfort level with prescription meds has them dosing themselves with their own or others’ prescription medicine, as if they were simply taking Tylenol for a headache.  Prescription opioids are every bit as dangerous as heroin. In fact, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America summarizes, “Last year, more teens got high on prescription medication than on cocaine, meth, and ecstasy combined.”

Tragic as our local cases are, this problem is accelerating everywhere in America.  Accidental self-poisoning is now the second leading cause of unintentional death in the U.S., and prescription medications now kill more Americans than cocaine or heroin.  This epidemic isn’t just about Suboxone.  It isn’t about synergism, youth, or individual susceptibility.  It isn’t about our heartbreaking recent losses or about Heath Ledger. It’s about our society’s growing misperception that somehow prescription medications are safe and that they can be appropriately dosed by anyone who can reach the medicine cabinet.  Tragically, we’re seeing firsthand that this isn’t the case.

–David Gummin, MD, is medical director of Wisconsin Poison Center. The Poison Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer questions toll-free 1-800-222-1222.