UB Pharmacy Students Teach Kids About Household Poisons

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Some "candies" are really medicine, and liquid that looks like soda pop may be drain cleaner.

Many common household products may look appealing to curious young children, but they can cause serious health problems if ingested through the mouth or nose, absorbed through the eyes or skin, or otherwise used improperly.

That's the message being delivered to kindergartners and first-graders in local classrooms this fall by more than 100 University at Buffalo pharmacy students who are participating in a poison-prevention program.

Armed with "show, tell and teach" materials, the UB students explain the dangers that can lurk around the house. Safety checklists and poison control center phone numbers also are provided for the children's parents.

The program is the brainchild of Karl Fiebelkorn, UB clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice, and Heidi Truschel, education coordinator for the Western New York Regional Poison Control Center in Children's Hospital of Buffalo.

The goal? To cut the risk of accidental poisoning among age-specific, higher-risk children.

Although parents are usually aware of dangers around the home, kids can help prevent accidental misuse of products and medicines if they, too, are armed with basic and easy-to-understand information.

Since the 1980s, the Poison Control Center and UB pharmacy students and faculty members have joined forces to provide educational programs to groups in Western New York.

But the expanded program, launched last spring as part of Fiebelkorn's pharmacy law class, provides more hands-on teaching to demonstrate the importance of legal requirements requiring child-resistant medicine caps and the importance of patient counseling.

Funded through a grant from the Children's Foundation of Erie County, the poisoning-prevention project also plans to develop a babysitter training video and other aids.