What You Can Do To Keep Yourself and Others Safe from Unintentional Poisoning:

* Follow directions on labels when you give or take medicines. Some medicines cannot be taken safely with other medications or with alcohol.
* To avoid drug interactions, check with your doctor if you are taking more than one prescription medication at a time.
* Keep medicines in their original bottles or containers.
* Never share or sell your prescription drugs to others, including family members.
* Keep all pain medications, such as methadone, hydrocodone, and oxycodone, in a safe place only reachable by people for whom use is prescribed.
* Monitor the use of medicines for children and teenagers, such as medicines for attention deficit disorder, or ADD, and cold and cough medications.
* Follow federal guidelines for disposal of unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs.

To protect children from poisoning:

* Keep medicines and toxic products, such as cleaning solutions, in locked or childproof cabinets.
* Put the nationwide poison control center phone number, 1-800-222-1222, on or near every telephone in your home. You should also program it into your cellular phone. Call poison control if you think a child has been poisoned and if they are awake and alert. Call 911 if you have a poison emergency and your child has collapsed or is not breathing.
* Follow label directions and read all warnings when giving medicines to children.
* Always secure the child safety cap and put medicine away immediately after you use it.