You hoped it would never happen. Your child comes running, complaining of a burning sensation in his mouth. His stomach hurts, and the evidence of his berry eating escapade is still smeared all over his fingers and lips. You suspect plant poisoning, but what do you do?
Before you call someone, remove the remains of the poisonous plant. Look into the victim's mouth and remove all traces of the seeds, fruits, root or whatever was consumed. Save this material for later identification. Wipe and wash the mouth thoroughly. If the eyes are irritated, wash them with plenty of water or milk, with the eyelids held open. Prevent the child from rubbing his eyes. If the victim is not breathing, start artificial respiration immediately. Do not stop until the child begins to breathe well or help arrives.
Send someone else to call for help, to either your family doctor or the Lehigh Valley Poison Center, 433-2311. They will recommend further steps, based on the information you can give them. Remember that the symptoms may not appear for 6-15 hours after ingesting the plant, so try to remember all that was eaten for the last 15hours. Be ready to help identify the plant by describing the size, shape and color of the flowers, fruits and/or leaves.
If you are told to come to the hospital, take along a sample of the poisonous plant if you can, to aid in identification. You may be told to induce vomiting. This can be done by using one tablespoon of ipecac syrup, followed by eight ounces of water or juice. If the victim doesn't vomit within 15-20 minutes, repeat the dose. Since some authorities do not recommend using salt water to induce vomiting, keep ipecac on hand. Vomiting is not induced if strong caustics are suspected, or if the victim is unconscious or having convulsions. If the plant is unknown, induction of vomiting is normally recommended by the poison control center.
The best treatment, of course, is prevention of the plant poisoning in the first place. Most of us are exposed every day to plants that will cause trouble. They may be found in a nearby field, a wooded area, a fencerow, a dried flower arrangement, or inside your home. Some parts of our most beautiful bulbs and perennials, shade trees, delicate wildflowers, as well as some common garden and landscape plants are toxic to varying degrees. I'm not suggesting that you frantically eliminate all of the toxic plants from your environment. You probably couldn't, anyway. Only a few are dangerously poisonous, probably less in number than the myriad of household chemicals, solvents and cleaners that are found in most homes. In addition, certainly it is much more dangerous to go for a ride in the family car than to have the popular but poisonous English ivy in one's backyard. However, normal parents still worry. Learning to identify the most common plants will save yourself and your family much worry and heartache.
Toddlers, of course, are likely to put almost anything in their mouths, so they mustbe watched constantly. Older children, even three and four-year-olds, can be taught not to eat anything without permission, but of course you watch them like the proverbial hawk anyway. They also, however, have an amazing ability to recognize the dangerous plants for themselves. They may not remember the name, but their brains are little sponges, noticing and soaking up details of shape and color that we adults pass by. However, they are also geniuses at getting into things that we ignore also, such as rubbing the usually toxic milky sap into their eyes.
In general, help your child by putting bulbs and seeds out of reach. Fungicides coating commercial seeds, insecticides and herbicides sprayed on plants, and molds growing on plant parts may be harmful also. Bulbs like daffodil and narcissus are poisonous, so if you must store them, do so where the little fingers cannot reach them. Make an effort to identify the plants in your yard and wherever your child plays, perhaps even marking those that are toxic. When camping, be careful which sticks you cut for your All-American hot dog roast. Black locust, laurel, horsechestnut, walnut, oleander, Osage orange, peach, plum, privet, rhododendron, and yew, all contain toxins in the sap, bark or young twigs which can be cooked into the meat and cause problems. Oleander, an outdoor plant in our southern states and a greenhouse plant here in Pennsylvania, is especially infamous for this.