Brianna Florer is a sweet, lively 2 year old. She lives in
Oklahoma in the United States with her parents, siblings and her grandparents,
and celebrated Christmas with them.
Just before Christmas Brianna had a seemingly high
temperature, but her parents assumed it was nothing more than a slight cold.
But on the Sunday after Christmas, the 2 year old had to be rushed into
hospital.
The
reason: she starts vomiting blood and her skin turns blue. When the little one
had an xray at the hospital the reason quickly became clear. Brianna had
swallowed a cell battery.
The
girl had to have an operation immediately because the acid from the battery is
running out and had already eaten through the child's stomach and one of the
main arteries. "They operated on her for two and a half hours but they
couldn't stop the bleeding", said her grandfather, Kent Vice. "One
minute she's fine and the next she's dead. We had no idea that she's swallowed
a battery."
The
Lithium cell battery that Brianna had swallowed can be found in many electronic
appliances. Not only in remotes, calculators and electric watches, but more and
more often in toys and other electronics for children as well.
According
to the National Poison Centre in Washington D.C. there was over 11000 incidents
of swallowed batteries between 2005 and 2014 alone. 15 children died as a
result and 101 now have serious medical problems.
Therefore,
it is important to know exactly what complications can amount when a child
swallows a battery. Then if it happens it can be treated quickly! According
to"Battery Controlled Australia", an association that deals
specifically with this topic, one should immediately contact a specialist in
any of the following cases:
• If a child has swallowed a battery, then
phone the poisons hotline immediately. Every second could save a life and the
specialists are not only available 24 hours a day, but also know exactly what
to do.
• A child is not eating or drinking and can't
vomit. It could be a hole in the windpipe, and could lead to suffocating.
• Caution! Milk does not work against poison!
Exactly the opposite - milk often accelerates the absorption of poison into the
intestines.
• Batteries, which could be swallowed should
always be kept out of reach of children!
• Equipment that includes tiny batteries
should always be thoroughly examined. Can a child open the gadget and get to
the batteries?
• Throw away flat batteries immediately. Most
supermarket offer free battery collection.
Brianna's family have created a fundraiser to help them
cover the costs of a burial for the little one.
There
is a glimmer of hope however: scientists are trying to develop a method for
coating the batteries in a "quantum-coat". Batteries would then not be
able to leak into the stomachs of small children or animals, preventing death
by poison.
Share this important information with everyone that you
know. Don't underestimate the risk involved with swallowing a battery. Everyone
should know how they can protect their children from this danger.
Source : Hefty