The gauge · Reading 2
Pesticide poisoning: first aid from the Queensland Poisons Information Centre
The Queensland Poisons Information Centre publishes first aid for four ways a poison gets in: swallowed, in the eye, on the skin, or breathed in. Its steps for each are copied below word for word, one route to a card, with the Centre’s advice on calling at the top of each.
General first aid information, not medical advice. The steps below are the Queensland Poisons Information Centre’s, copied unaltered under its licence; where a step says “us”, it means the Centre. Its household poisons page is the original.
The Centre’s steps, for each way in
Each card holds one of the Centre’s procedures from its first step to its last. The first three steps are the same on every card: the Centre’s call line, which heads all its first aid, and two lines from its advice on calling.
Swallowed
First aid for poisoning: swallowed poison- “Call Triple Zero (000) if someone has collapsed or isn't breathing. Otherwise, call us on 13 11 26 for advice.”
- “If someone has collapsed or isn't breathing only call us after you’ve called Triple Zero (000).”
- “Before calling, get the name of the product and any information about the ingredients from the label, if possible.”
- “Don't try to make them vomit.”
- “Wipe or rinse their mouth or face.”
In the eye
First aid for poisoning: poison in the eye- “Call Triple Zero (000) if someone has collapsed or isn't breathing. Otherwise, call us on 13 11 26 for advice.”
- “If someone has collapsed or isn't breathing only call us after you’ve called Triple Zero (000).”
- “Before calling, get the name of the product and any information about the ingredients from the label, if possible.”
- “Gently flood the eye with water from a cup, jug or slowly running tap.”
- “Continue to flush for 15 minutes, holding the eyelids open.”
On the skin
First aid for poisoning: poison on the skin- “Call Triple Zero (000) if someone has collapsed or isn't breathing. Otherwise, call us on 13 11 26 for advice.”
- “If someone has collapsed or isn't breathing only call us after you’ve called Triple Zero (000).”
- “Before calling, get the name of the product and any information about the ingredients from the label, if possible.”
- “Remove contaminated clothing, taking care that you don’t touch the poison.”
- “Flood the skin with cool running water.”
- “Wash gently with soap and water and rinse well.”
Breathed in
First aid for poisoning: inhaled poison- “Call Triple Zero (000) if someone has collapsed or isn't breathing. Otherwise, call us on 13 11 26 for advice.”
- “If someone has collapsed or isn't breathing only call us after you’ve called Triple Zero (000).”
- “Before calling, get the name of the product and any information about the ingredients from the label, if possible.”
- “Immediately get the person to fresh air, but don’t place yourself at risk.”
- “Don't breathe any fumes.”
- “If it’s safe to do so, open the doors and windows wide.”
- “If the person has collapsed, or isn't breathing, call Triple Zero (000) and start resuscitation (CPR).”
Who answers at the Poisons Information Centre
The Centre says it can help anywhere in Australia, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and that callers talk to a pharmacist trained in the harmful effects of poisons. It may explain how to give first aid, describe any symptoms of poisoning and when they might start, or send the caller to a doctor or a hospital.
The label comes up in the Centre’s steps, which is one reason to keep the notice a technician leaves after a treatment, naming each pesticide and its active constituent. That notice is explained on before and after a treatment.
When symptoms come later, or not at all
healthdirect explains that pesticides contain active ingredients that can harm people, and that exposure to low levels of pesticide over a long period can also cause poisoning. It says symptoms of pesticide poisoning can range from mild to severe, and in severe cases can be life threatening. It says symptoms occur within 2 days of exposure, but that poisoning from low levels of pesticide over a long time can take longer to show; this is called chronic poisoning.
Keeping it from happening
The Centre’s general tips, in our words:
- Many poisonings happen when poisons are out of their usual secure place: just after they are bought, while they are in use, during a move, or on a visit to someone else’s home.
- Store poisons in a high, locked cupboard, or fit child-proof locks to the doors where they are kept.
- Leave poisons in their original containers, and never move them into another one, least of all a food or drink container.
- Don’t bring industrial-strength chemicals home or use them there.
- For rats, ants and cockroaches, choose baits enclosed in plastic bait stations, which are harder for children to get into than loose pellets or gels.
- Follow the instructions whenever you use chemicals and cleaning products.
healthdirect adds that pesticides are best used only when necessary and according to the directions on the label. Fumigation has rules of its own, set out on the fumigation reading; and after a flood, the clean-up has its own protections on rats and leptospirosis.
Most of this page is about the moment after a spill. The list above is about keeping that moment from coming at all.