Someone has swallowed something harmful — what do I do?
The three things that actually help — ring, do not induce vomiting, take the container — and what to do while waiting, including for skin and inhalation exposures.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 7 min
- Read
- 4 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Ring 999 or get to A&E if you think someone has swallowed, touched or breathed in something harmful. Do not make them sick and do not give them anything to eat or drink. Find the packaging, container or medicine and take it with you. If they are unresponsive and breathing, use the recovery position; if they are not breathing normally, start CPR.
Household poisoning is overwhelmingly a children's emergency and overwhelmingly involves ordinary things: medicines, cleaning products, dishwasher tablets, button batteries, garden chemicals, alcohol. The single most important thing to know is the one instruction that runs against instinct.
Safety
Step by step
- Ring for help straight away.NHS advice is to ring 999 or go to A&E if you think you, a child, or anyone else may have swallowed, touched or breathed in something harmful. Do not wait for symptoms — many substances have a delay before they cause any.
- Do not make them sick.This is stated plainly in the guidance and it matters: they could choke and stop breathing. Corrosive substances also do further damage on the way back up. Salt water, fingers down the throat, and any other home method are all out.
- Do not give anything to eat or drink.Including milk, which is a persistent piece of folklore. It can change how a substance is absorbed and it complicates treatment.
- Find out what it was.Look around for packaging, containers, bottles, blister packs or plant material. Take the actual container with you or photograph the label — the name, the concentration and the batch matter to whoever treats them.
- Estimate how much and when.How much is missing from the bottle or the pack, and roughly what time. Both change the assessment substantially, and a guess made now is better than nothing later.
- Handle a skin or eye exposure differently.For a chemical on skin, remove contaminated clothing and rinse the area with plenty of running water. For an eye, irrigate with clean water for a prolonged period and keep going while help is arranged. Say on the phone what the substance was.
- Handle an inhalation exposure by getting out.Fumes, smoke or gas mean fresh air first, without putting yourself into the space to fetch someone if it is not safe. Carbon monoxide is the case where several people and pets in a household feel unwell together and improve on leaving.
- Be ready to manage their airway.If they become unresponsive but are breathing normally, put them in the recovery position. If they are not breathing normally, start CPR. Tell the 999 handler what you believe they have taken.
Tips
- Button batteries are a specific and serious emergency in small children. A swallowed one can burn through the oesophagus within hours, and it is an immediate A&E case even if the child seems entirely well.
- Liquid laundry capsules are the other one worth naming: the contents are concentrated and under pressure, and they squirt into eyes and mouths.
- Keep the packaging of anything a child might reach. Being able to say the exact product saves a great deal of time at hospital.
Common mistakes
- Making them vomit — It risks choking, it can cause a second burn with a corrosive substance, and it does not reliably remove much. It is specifically warned against.
- Waiting for symptoms before ringing — Paracetamol in particular causes very little in the first hours and serious liver damage afterwards. A delay based on the person seeming well is exactly the dangerous case.
- Searching online for the substance instead of ringing — Ring first and search afterwards if at all. Ambulance control has direct access to the National Poisons Information Service, which is far better than any search result.
- Going into a space full of fumes to pull someone out — It is how one casualty becomes two. If the atmosphere is not safe, stay out and tell the emergency services what is in there.
If it doesn't work
A child may have taken tablets but seems fine
Cause: Many substances have a delay before symptoms appear — Fix: Ring 999 or go to A&E with the packaging. Seeming fine is not evidence, and paracetamol is the classic example of a substance where the early hours look reassuring.
Something corrosive has been swallowed
Cause: Drain cleaner, oven cleaner, strong descaler — Fix: Ring 999, do not induce vomiting, do not give anything to drink, and take the container. Corrosives are the substances where making someone sick does the most additional harm.
Several people in a house feel unwell and improve when they go out
Cause: Possible carbon monoxide — Fix: Get everyone out, do not go back in, ring the gas emergency service — 0800 111 999 in Great Britain, 0800 002 001 in Northern Ireland — and seek medical advice. Carbon monoxide has no smell and this pattern is the warning.
Questions people ask
Is there a poisons helpline I can ring?
The National Poisons Information Service advises health professionals rather than the public directly. For a member of the public the route is 999 or A&E, and ambulance control can access that expertise on your behalf.
What about alcohol?
Alcohol poisoning is a real emergency, particularly in a young person. Someone who cannot be roused, is breathing slowly or irregularly, has cold or blue-tinged skin, or has had a fit, needs 999. Never leave someone who is very drunk to sleep it off alone on their back.
What if a pet has eaten something?
Ring a vet immediately rather than a human service, and take the packaging. The same rule applies about not inducing vomiting unless a vet instructs it.
Should I keep activated charcoal at home?
No. It is a hospital treatment used selectively and it is not a home remedy. Nothing in the home should be given for poisoning.