Medicine is meant to heal, but the wrong amount can do the opposite. The Upstate Poison Center is launching a campaign to give parents the tools they need to give their children correct doses. Director of Public Education and Communication Gail Banach says that many parents just don’t have the right tools.
“Most of us are interested in following the Doctor’s orders to make sure that our children get the right dosage. In order to do that, you have to have right tool.
To combat this, free informational kits are being distributed locally with a calibrated medicine spoon. Banach says that using a kitchen spoon to administer medicine can be hazardous.
“(The) Problem is the kitchen spoons are all different size. So while you have the best of intentions that you may not be delivering the right dose to your child. Secondly, I don’t know about anyone else, but I know that in my experience in trying to deliver that dose on a spoon, there’s a much higher probability of that dose being spilled along the way."
Banach cited an N-Y-U study which found that about 40-percent of parents give their children the wrong dose. She reminds people to not call the Poison Control line to request the free kit. They are being distributed at the Pediatric E-R at Upstate’s Downtown Campus, the Pediatric and Adolescent Center at 90 Presidential Plaza.
