Found pill on floor at AKL

[cdrn1]

Just a reminder to parents of little ones to check the room carefully on arrival for hazards. We did not and could have had a tragedy. On our third night at AKL my daughter found a pill that I suspect was a beta blocker (it had the beta symbol on it) under the bed. We are very thankful that my daughter found it instead of our 21 pound granddaughter. And please folks, if you drop a pill, look until you find it; there are enough hazards in the world for little ones and it only takes a second for them to get in to trouble. Thanks!

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

Yikes! That is scary. I'm glad everyone is okay

 

[TinkerBess_SnowTori]

I noticed at a concert we attended the other day - several pills under the seats of the audience. One that looked like tylenol and several white capsule shaped pills. My DH and I picked all the ones we could find up - someone asked us why we were bothering... and I just said "It is not a bother"

 

[HappyLawyer]

what's a beta blocker?

 

[cdrn1]

Beta blockers are drugs used to treat high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, and other cardiac problems. When overdosed, they can cause very low blood pressure and cardiac arrythmias that can cause death. Not a good thing for a baby to find on the floor and eat. I am not positive that's what the pill was but with the beta symbol on it that's what I suspect it was.

 

[robinb]

My daughter, who was about 2 years old at the time, once picked up a small pill from a hotel floor in Chicago and popped it in her mouth. I dug it out of her mouth before she could eat it. I was not sure if she had found another one and had eaten it since I found another one on the floor.

I thought to myself: "This is not a 9-1-1 call, but a Poison Control call." I picked up the phone and asked the operator to connect me with poison control. They had no clue how to do that and bounced me to the concierge. The concierge also didn't know how to place the call but security did. They connected me to security and I am beginning to panic. Security also had no clue. Fine. I had enough. I dialed 9-1-1 and spoke to a very nice Chicago firefighter who connected me with Poison Control and even stayed on the line to make sure my DD was OK. Poison Control had me describe the pill and it turned out to be a small decongestant and was fairly harmless even for a small child. They said she might be sleepy if she had eaten one. She never did show any signs, so don't think she ate any.

Let me tell you, the manager on duty that night got an earful and so did the manager when I was checking out. I was furious. I could forgive the maid not vacuuming up medication, it was hidden behind a table. What I could not forgive was the inability of the staff to help me with a basic security need. They also never offered to connect me with 9-1-1. I had to call them myself. I didn't want that to happen to someone else. I wanted them to add the Poison Control number to their emergency or I wanted them to have a plan in place to call 9-1-1 for the guest.

By the way ... Poison Control now has the same number in everywhere. It is: 1-800-222-1222.

 

[SueM in MN]

If it ONLY had a Beta sign on it, chances are it was not a prescription drug (at least one made/sold in the US). All prescription drugs have a series of letters and numbers stamped or molded into them. Those identify the company that made the drug and, together with the color and shape of the pill, they identify exactly what the pill is. The combination of color, shape, markings are exclusive to that particular medication, made by that manufacturer and also identitfy the strength. Each company has to register the markings they use for each drug thjey manufacture. Non-prescription medication are marked in the same manner (like some Youth Strenght Motrin I had was marked with MO and 100).
One of the reasons for that is so if you do call poison control, they can identify the exact pill from your description by looking it up in the Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) which has complete descriptions of each pill and full size, color pictures of many medications.

I still would not want to find a pill on the floor of my room, but just wanted to point out the way medications are identified.

 

[cdrn1]

Actually, it did have more than that and after I got home I looked in my PDR (I'm an RN) and did identify it as metoprolol. Thanks for the input.

 

[JenDaveBrendan]

When my son was about 2, he ate an atenolol (a beta-blocker) that my dad had left out on the table within little person reach. He ended up in the ER having charcoal shoved down his throat, then had to be admitted for 24 hours to be monitored. Thankfully, he was fine afterwards. My dad's reaction?!?! "It is my house and I can leave pills out if I want to".
I guess I assumed their house was safe, and was not watching as closely as I should have been. Boy, did I learn a lesson on that one! It was an extremely scary experience.

Jen

 

[minkydog]

Jen, I had the same reaction from my MIL, who would not pick up the pills, the alcohol,or the rat poison. Indeed, it was her house. Therefore, I elected NOT to stay there anymore with my young children. She was very upset with me, and she never did understand. But I felt it was necessary to keep my children safe and I would do it again.

Sharp eyes, cdrn. so glad you caught it before your child ate the pill. Those little pills would be easy to miss with a vacuum cleaner. As a nurse I'm sure you have witnessed or administered the charcoal treatment--no fun for anyone. When we go to a new place, hotel or relative's house, I used to get down on my knees and crawl around to see what I could see. You might be surprised what's down there.

Cathy, ped RN

 

[PrincessDadx2]

We had the same experience at AKL only it was out in the open and my 2 year old found it, but gave it to us. We let the housekeeping dept know that the vaccuming hadn't been done well. After 3 more days of no vaccuming the housekeeping manager gave us a 25% discount off of our bill without us asking.

 

[wuv tigger]

She's been taught to give us things like that! Thank God she did!

I did call Mousekeeping that PM & left a msge for the mngr. She was very apologetic & saw us later & asked how the rest of our trip went.

Judy

 

[flyingenie]

wow! I'm glad you all shared your stories- I will be on the lookout!

 

[Dragonfly8124]

Wow, I am totally amazed at how irresponsible people are. Maybe I am just a worry wort. If I was to drop any medicine then I am on my hands and knees looking for it, I dropped it so it has to be there ya know. Especially with me and my oldest DD's meds. DD takes some harsh meds (anti-cancer type and steroids) and Narcolepsy meds for me. God forbid a baby or toddler pick one up and swallow it. To say the least it wouldn't be a very happy ending to what should be a very happy place. I have dropped some before and I have a 22 month old too so I am searching till I find it - even before she was born, you just don't leave stuff like that on the floor.

I am so glad that it didn't end up worse.

 

[jeancbpugh]

We always check hotel rooms thoroughly as soon as we arrive, although we are looking for dropped peanuts...which are potentially as fatal to our son as a drug overdose. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff we've found. Eeewwwwwwww.

 

[kkcolton5]

We had a nanny once who dropped a generic Benadryl and didn't know she dropped it. Our 9-month-old popped that pill into his mouth and I fished it out in a panic, ran to the pharmacy to have it identified, confronted the very defensive nanny, and fired her on the spot. Sorry, but what was her next mistake going to be...leaving the gate to the swimming pool open?? I don't think so!!

Glad everyone is more aware now, thank you all for enlightening us. I'll check the hotel room on my hands and knees!

 

[Disney01]

I think everyone should know however, that the best and quickest way to contact poison control is 911. I accidentally gave my 2 year old my 11 year olds medicine (long story). 911 connected me quicker than I could look up and dial, plus stayed on the line in case I did need an ambulance.

 

[kldmom2000]

While walking in Tomorrowland last week, my 2 yr old DD picked up a small ziplock bag from the ground and handed it to me-it contained an assortment of pills! Ack! I gave it to a CM in the area-how frightening if I hadn't been right there what could have happened... or if another child had gotten to it first!

 

[Bird-Mom]

This happened to us at the Beach Club too. Fortunately, my dd had just passed the stage of putting everything in her mouth. Scary.

 

[minkydog]

I think everyone should know however, that the best and quickest way to contact poison control is 911. I accidentally gave my 2 year old my 11 year olds medicine (long story). 911 connected me quicker than I could look up and dial, plus stayed on the line in case I did need an ambulance.

Good Advice.