This PSA Brought To You By....

So I mentioned that Violet had a hospital stay recently.  Thankfully she is 100% okay but it could have ended very differently!

We had company at our house for Madeline's ballet recital.  And one of our visitors accidentally left their nicotine mints on our kitchen table while they ran upstairs after their own two year old.

Everyone else was outside playing with sidewalk chalk, and Travis was grilling lunch.  I brought Violet inside to wash her hands and then I went to the bathroom.  As I was washing my hands I heard her saying, "Yum, yum."  Followed quickly by, "YUCKY!"

I ran into the dining room and saw her chewing several nicotine mints, holding the container they came in.  I called for help and tried to get as much out of her mouth as I could.  We called poison control and they told us to take her to the hospital immediately.  Thankfully we have a hospital in Britt just a couple blocks away from our house.

Unfortunately they had to put a tube down her nose to give her charcoal.  (The charcoal helped absorb the nicotine to get it out of her system)  At this point she was pale, clammy, listless and had a very high heart rate and blood pressure.  Then her eyes started rolling and I got nervous.  We had to be transferred by ambulance to the hospital in Mason City.  About halfway through the ambulance ride she was more alert and seemed better.

We were in the hospital for 24 hours for observation.  The concern was that she would have a seizure.  The doctors had her hooked up to heart monitors with all kinds of tubes/wires!  Thankfully her heart rate and blood pressure finally came down around 3 a.m. (she consumed the mints at noon).  When we were checking out the next day they told us they had been preparing to transfer her to a larger hospital in Rochester to a NICU before her heart rate came down.  Very scary.

I am leaving a lot out, but my point in posting this is that YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL.  I personally picked up the container of nicotine mints five or six times and asked our visitor where I could put them to keep them away from the kids.  The doctor let me know that although it was an accident, I still should have thrown the mints away or locked them up myself if I noticed they were being left out.  AND HE WAS RIGHT.  I should have done that.  We all need to remember to be vigilant and careful.  Violet is okay but it could have turned out differently.

So PLEASE take a look around your home or when you visit others and look for hazards big and small.  Violet had to go through a lot due to a preventable accident.  (And her mama and papa did too!!!) 

Thank you to Hancock County Memorial Hospital (the staff was great with Violet!), the amazing volunteer EMTS on the ambulance service (especially Karen who got Violet to smile) and the nurses and doctors at Mercy.  They made a scary situation easier.

Now go and make sure your medications are put up!  I mean it!