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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsChild dies at a battered woman's shelter from eating a detergent pod.
So sad.
Child dies after ingesting detergent pod
Reports that a 1-year-old boy died after eating a laundry detergent pod in Kissimmee last week highlight the dangers poison control officials have been warning of for more than a year as the product has become wildly popular among consumers.
Kissimmee Police could not produce the report of the child's death for the Orlando Sentinel Thursday morning, but other media have reported the child died Friday after ingesting the pod filled with highly-concentrated cleaning chemicals at a Kissimmee battered women's shelter.
The Florida Department of Children and Families confirmed Michael Williams ingested the pod but said it will take weeks before medical examiners can make an official ruling on the cause of death.
In a statement, DCF said "The death of little Michael is a tragedy. It reminds all of us as parents the dangers of leaving household cleaning supplies around our little ones."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-detergent-pod-death-child-20130815,0,3886139.story
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)You would think that the shelter would be more careful with cleaning supplies.
cali
(114,904 posts)there's nothing in the article to indicate one way or the other. For all we know, the mother of the child or some other resident left it where the child could access it. Or do you think the staff at shelters should be following the residents around 24-7?
"... the child's mother reported she had placed detergent pods handed out by the shelter inside a laundry basket on the bed where her son was sleeping.
"She stepped away and when she returned, the baby boy had eaten one packet of the highly-concentrated cleaning chemicals and was starting on a second one, according to Stacie Miller, a Kissimmee police spokeswoman."
Mother gets the blame for this one. She was negligent.
If my wife had seen me leave something like this in range of our kid I'd probably be typing hunt-and-peck with just my left hand--she'd have bitten off my right one at the elbow.
xmas74
(29,658 posts)Everything could have been locked up and a resident left something out. Or maybe one of them fell out of the container and to the side of the washing machine, where the little one found it and ingested it. That's how my kid ate rat poison years ago-at a laundry mat where they had a bit between two washers.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Sorry, not blaming the shelter staff for this.