Mar 25, 2009

What's Happening in the Backseat?

For the millions of drivers who hit the nation’s roadways every day, an accident could be right around the next corner or happening in the backseat without you even knowing it. Perhaps your birth came as a direct result of this phenomenon. With many Americans spending more and more time in their cars, emergency personnel are seeing an increase in auto-related accidents that in the past usually happened at home, and prominent among them are poisonings. OnStar’s Cathy McCormick says the vehicle emergency service receives about a call a day from subscribers with questions relating to poisonings.

“OnStar knows how important it is to respond to emergencies the moment they happen, especially when it concerns poisonings,” McCormick said. “So OnStar is teaming up with Poison Control to give subscribers access to poison exposure management instructions right when they need it most.”

Dr. Susan Smolinske with Children's Hospital of Michigan says that in the United States alone, over 68,000 calls regarding children and pets are made to Poison Control. Not all such incidents are life-threatening, but when they are, immediate response is important for successful outcomes.

“People spend a lot of time in their cars -- shopping, traveling and running errands,” Smolinske said. “And accidents do happen with seemingly harmless items like chocolate -- which is poisonous to dogs -- and over-the-counter drugs, which can be harmful to kids.”

Since we want both dogs and kids to be safe, please be careful with potentially poisonous items as you drive and be ready to make a quick response if an accident occurs.