The Case of the Home Remedy
Posted: June 17th, 2014 | Tags: antidote, folk remedy, home remedy, induce vomiting, poison, unintentional poisoning | No Comments »The IPC receives about 80,000 calls each year regarding poisonings; in 2013 over 50,000 of those were calling from their home about an exposure that occurred there. Luckily, we were able to keep 90% of those people at home, without the need to go to an emergency room or doctor’s office for their exposure. That is part of what we do here at the IPC—determine which 90% will do just fine with no treatment and which 10% need to be evaluated by a healthcare professional for possible treatment.
If you or your child has ingested a potentially harmful substance in your home, the first instinct often is to do something or give something in an attempt to counteract or reverse the potential poison. This instinct is understandable and explains why there are so many home/folk remedies out there. Unfortunately some of these can be much more dangerous than the substance originally ingested! Read more »