Palliser Primary Care Network

Poison Prevention

Kim Boyer
March 4, 2025

“A poison is anything that can cause harm to your body through a toxic effect that may injure you or make you sick. It can be something you inhale, swallow, inject or that touches your skin or eyes.” (Canadian Association for Poison Centres and Clinical Toxicology, 2025)

Accidental poisonings are a top cause of preventable injury and death in Canada. Most of these poisonings are caused by pain medications and household cleaning products. In 2023, Canada launched a new Canada-wide toll-free number for poison control. 1-844 POISON-X or 1-844-764-7669 are the new numbers that will automatically re-route calls to the local poison centre. (Health Canada, 2023)

Young children are at highest risk for poisoning because of their natural curiosity.  Always keep all cleaning products locked up when not in use.  Never leave a poisonous product unattended, even for a moment.  Always keep products in original packaging with labels intact, this can be especially important in the case of a poisoning. Product information is useful to know when calling the poison centre. Never mix products together. Keep alcohol and medicines out of reach and out of sight. Avoid taking medications in front of children, as they like to mimic and copy adults. Never refer to medicine as candy. Something more common as of lately, is edible marijuana products. These can be especially dangerous as they often look and taste like a harmless snack. They should be treated the same as medications and be locked away. (Healthwise Staff, 2023)

Another source of poisoning less thought about is household and garden plants. All household plants should be kept out of reach of children and labeled with plants specific name (e.g. Devil’s ivy vs. just ivy).  For outside, children should always be supervised. Teach children to never eat wild plants/berries/mushrooms/seeds/nuts. (Parachute, 2024)

“Approximately 3,500 Canadians die each year due to unintentional poisoning” (Parachute, 2024). All these death are preventable by being proactive, locking away poisons, and being vigilant.