I am on a mission to get the word out about a hidden danger that is in nearly every home: coin lithium batteries or "button" batteries. Please share this information with as many people as you can! Having a husband that is an Emergency Medicine Physician has helped me be aware of this issue and I hope everyone that reads this will SPREAD THE WORD about the dangers of button batteries to children.
A recent survey reported that 66 percent of parents have never heard of button battery risks. Another 56 percent reported that they intentionally give their children electronic devices more often than their own toys, because their children prefer playing with them.
Researchers in the US found there has been a significant increase over the last 25 years in the percentage of severe injury and deaths in children who swallow batteries, at the same time as button batteries have become increasingly common for use in household products. This trend is alarming—in the past five years, the number of swallowing incidences of button batteries that have caused serious injury or death has quadrupled.
How many times you have seen an infant or toddler, either yours or someone else's, chewing on a remote control or mom's set of keys? Do you realize how dangerous this can be? Button batteries are in many of these devices and can cause severe injuries or death when swallowed.
True but Tragic Story
May 28, 2009, FORT LUPTON, Colorado. -- A funeral was held Friday morning for 2-year-old Elaina Redding, who bled to death three weeks after a button-sized battery lodged in her esophagus.
Elaina's mother, Donna Ryan, told 7NEWS that they didn't know how Elaina got the battery in her mouth but they later determined it probably came from a small, electronic game. It was from a hand-held Yahtzee, an electronic game," said Elaina's father, A.J. Redding.
The girl swallowed the battery on May 2 and started clutching her chest, saying it hurt, her parents said. Elaina's parents took her to Platte Valley Medical Center in Brighton, where X-rays revealed the problem. Elaina was moved to Children's Hospital in Aurora where doctors performed an endoscopy and removed the battery. She was released on May 6.
On May 20 (2.5 weeks after swallowing the battery), Elaina came out of the bathroom saying she was having problems. A few minutes later, Donna Ryan found her daughter on the bathroom floor, where she had coughed up blood."She threw up all over my arm, I had blood on my arm, on my clothes," she said. Mrs. Ryan said Elaina also coughed up blood in her hospital room and was taken to the intensive care unit. She was bleeding faster than the doctors could put blood in, Mrs. Ryan said.
Elaina's mom told us "She already had rolled her eyes back in her head when the doctor went to get help," Elaina suffered another fit of coughing late that night and hemorrhaged to death about 2 a.m. on May 21. Coroner Marcia Vincent told 7NEWS that Elaina bled to death of esophageal hemorrhage due to erosion of her esophagus and aorta from the button battery.
Elaina's mother is now hoping her daughter's death gives parents pause."Put the batteries under lock and key," Ryan said."Throw them away, put them away or keep them where kids can't get them," Redding said.
Understanding Hazards of Button Batteries
The National Capital Poison Center said more than 3,000 people of all ages in the Unites States each year unintentionally swallow miniature disc or "button" batteries used to power hearing aids, key fobs, watches, calculators, remotes, and even those musical greeting cards. Even some toys made to be put into a baby's mouth contain the potential hazard. The dangers of the batteries include chemical burns, choking, hemorrhaging(severe bleeding that is difficult to stop or can't be stopped), vocal cord paralysis, poisoning, and death. Ten percent of kids who swallow button batteries die, according to the poison center.
When I first heard about button batteries causing such problems it didn’t make sense to me. I wondered if these batteries are so small – how could they cause such serious problems? Since the batteries are so small, they do not cause choking, but rather lodge in the child's esophagus (throat, or the tube that connects your mouth to your stomach. It travels right behind your trachea which is your wind pipe).
When swallowed, the saliva ignites a chemical reaction with the battery, and the trauma and burning begins in the esophagus within two hours.
What is so scary about this scenario is that a child can swallow a button battery without a parent or care giver even realizing what has happened. Yet, because the child is not choking, the parent may not even be aware of the serious injuries taking place.
Experts from the National Poison Center say a battery that doesn't move through the gut, especially one that lodges in the esophagus, may adhere to tissue and leak, or the electrical current from the battery passing through adjacent tissue can generate alkali (in chemistry an alkali is a base – just know that this will act like an acid against tissues). Chemical burns may result. Other complications include paralysis of the vocal cords, narrowing (stricture) of the esophagus, severe internal bleeding as a result of a hole into a major blood vessel (like the aorta, the largest artery in our body, as reported above in the story of Elaina), or a hole connecting the windpipe (trachea) to the food pipe (esophagus) called a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), and even death.
Within 6 hours of getting lodged, the disc battery can eat through the esophagus or the organ they are lodged against, and within 8 to 10 hours, it can cause death. Battery removal is done with an endoscope. Surgery is rarely, if ever, indicated.
What To Do If a Child Swallows a Button Battery?
Go immediately to the Emergency Room!!! You won’t know if it’s stuck in the esophagus or actually went through to the stomach. Either way you need medical help!!! Once the battery is swallowed everything depends on how quickly the button battery can be removed – especially if stuck in the esophagus.
What Symptoms Should You Watch Out For?
If your child starts having some of these symptoms, tuck in the back of your mind that it could possibly be a button battery that was swallowed:
• Refusing to take fluids or food
• An increase in salivation
• Vomiting
• Abdominal tenderness
• Chest pain
• Throat pain
However, realize in one study they found that 9 of 25 patients had no symptoms at all. That's why officials say do not wait for symptoms to develop before getting an X-ray. If the battery remains in the esophagus, it must be removed immediately. If you have an inkling that what your child is experiencing is related to swallowing a button battery – don’t take the risk and take them to the Emergency Room.
Where are Button Batteries?
Button batteries are in dozens of electronic devices. PLEASE be aware of these batteries and DO NOT leave them within the reach of children. The following can have button batteries in them:
• Remote controls
• Hearing Aids
• Key Fobs
• Watches
• Calculators
• Bathroom scales
• Flameless candles
• Singing greeting cards
• Talking books
• Hand-held electronic games
• Battery operated door alarm
The scary thing is, button batteries can easily fall out of devices—most compartments for button batteries are not required to be secure, because the products they are in are not designed for children. This happened to me just the other day. I was speaking with someone at my door and accidentally pulled the cover off of our battery operated door alarm (it holds three button batteries). Once I realized what happened I was relentless in finding all three of the batteries immediately.
Button batteries should be treated the same way a medication should be treated. They can be just as deadly upon ingestion. Would you give a bottle full of pills to a child to play with - even if there was a safety lid on it? NO – of course not. Then we shouldn't be giving electronic devices to children play with either - even if there is a cover over the battery. Let's all be diligent in knowing at all times where button batteries are. We all just have to change the way we think about button batteries. They are so helpful in our lives, we just have to be aware of how dangerous they can be.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE – if you have children come to your home or live in your home, go room to room and check for easy to reach things that contain button batteries. One place you might not think of is on a bathroom scale—on the floor and within easy reach children. Or what about those remote controls that children love so much?
Safety Checklist
• Keep items with button batteries out of reach of children.
• Tell everyone you know about this danger, including babysitters, grandparents or others who care for your child.
• Get help IMMEDIATELY if you suspect a child has swallowed a button battery.
• Store unused button batteries in a locked cabinet, along with other hazardous items.
• Dispose of button batteries safely.
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