Brief overview
- What is poisoning? The harmful effect of a foreign or toxic substance on the body.
- How can poisoning be recognized? Depending on the type of poisoning, e.g. nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, tremors, dizziness, seizures, unconsciousness, cardiovascular failure, respiratory arrest.
- What to do in case of poisoning? In the event of (suspected) poisoning, you should always contact a doctor or an emergency doctor!
Attention!
- Some poisonings are only slightly dangerous, while others can even be fatal. Laypersons can hardly assess this, which is why a doctor must always be called if poisoning is suspected!
- Stay away from household remedies in the event of poisoning! For example, never give the affected person milk to drink, as this may allow the poison to enter the bloodstream even more quickly.
- Nowadays, doctors rarely induce vomiting in cases of poisoning – because it can only remove a small amount of poison from the body and also carries risks (e.g. vomit can get into the windpipe or a corrosive substance can slosh through the oesophagus a second time). Laypersons should never induce vomiting in affected persons!
Poisoning: What is it?
Poisoning (medical intoxication) is damage to the body caused by contact with a toxic substance. Contact can occur in various ways:
- Ingestion
- Skin and/or mucous membrane contact (e.g. eyes or nose)
Some substances that cause poisoning are toxic even in small quantities. Others, however, are normally non-toxic (e.g. shaving foam, toothpaste, blackboard chalk, vitamin preparations) and only become dangerous in larger quantities.
Almost all substances can be toxic in appropriate doses – “the dose makes the poison” (Paracelsus).
Unintentional and intentional poisoning
Unintentional poisoning can occur, for example, if your child drinks from what you think is a soda bottle in which you store household cleaning products or furniture polish. Mixing up medicines or handling toxic chemicals can also be the cause of unintentional poisoning.
Intentional poisoning is often intended to kill or at least harm yourself or someone else. This can be done by ingesting a poison or an overdose of medication. Sometimes people are also deliberately poisoned to render them defenceless (e.g. for rape or robbery).
Types of poisoning
The main types of poisoning are:
Food poisoning: They result from the consumption of spoiled food. The exact cause of the symptoms are, for example, toxins, bacteria or parasites in the food.
Alcohol poisoning: If someone consumes large quantities of alcohol in a short period of time, this results in alcohol poisoning. The consequences depend on the extent of the intoxication. A blood alcohol level of five per mille or more is generally fatal. Incidentally, alcohol is not only found in wine, beer, etc., but also in some cosmetic products, disinfectants and cleaning agents, for example.
Plant poisoning: These often occur in (small) children who carelessly put colorful berries or leaves in their mouths. Ingredients such as essential oils or toxins are then responsible for the symptoms of poisoning. Adults can also contract plant poisoning, for example if they accidentally pick and eat the similar-looking leaves of lily of the valley while looking for wild garlic.
Drug poisoning: This is caused by an overdose of a medication. This can happen accidentally, for example in older people. However, poisoning with medication is often intentional – as a suicide attempt.
Poisoning with gases: Inhaling a wide variety of gases (e.g. carbon monoxide) can also cause symptoms of poisoning. One example is smoke inhalation poisoning (intoxication caused by inhaling smoke or fire gases).
Heavy metal poisoning: This is usually a gradual intoxication – those affected unconsciously ingest small amounts of a toxic heavy metal (such as iron, lead, mercury, copper) over a longer period of time, which accumulates in the body. This can happen, for example, via contaminated food (e.g. fish with mercury contamination) or via drinking water from lead pipes.
Poisoning: How to recognize it?
The symptoms of poisoning depend, among other things, on the type and dose of the toxic substance. In addition, people can react differently to the same toxic substance. General symptoms of poisoning are, for example
- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
- abdominal pain
- Headache, dizziness
- States of agitation, hallucinations, confusion
- Accelerated or slowed pulse
- Pallor, reddening of the skin, feeling of heat
- shock
- Breathing problems up to respiratory arrest
- Cardiovascular failure
Depending on the effect of the poison, other symptoms may also occur, such as seizures, salivation and lacrimation, paralysis and sweating. If the poison comes into contact with the skin, it can react with a rash and blistering – and with chronic contact with inflammation (dermatitis). Eye contact with poisons causes pain and reddening of the eyes. In addition, the patient can no longer see as well or at all in the affected eye.
Poisoning: first aid measures
What you should do if you want to help someone who has been poisoned always depends on what they have been poisoned with, what symptoms they are showing and how severe the poisoning is.
In the case of poisoning via the digestive tract (e.g. with alcohol, medication, poisonous or spoiled food, poisonous plants, chemicals), you should take the following first aid measures:
Calm the affected person, especially if it is a child, and keep calm yourself.
Call the emergency services (112). Then dial the poison control center in your region. The staff there will tell you what you can or should do.
If the person is responsive, open their mouth and try to wipe out any remains of the ingested substance with a finger.
Keep all remains that could be the cause of the poisoning (e.g. leftover food, mushroom remains, tablets, parts of plants). Take these – and/or any vomit – with you to the doctor or hospital so that the doctor can determine what the poisoning is.
If the affected person vomits on their own, you can help them by supporting their head or stroking their back to reassure them.
First aid for gas poisoning
In the event of gas poisoning, you should first remove the affected person from the danger zone (provided you are not endangering yourself!) and bring them into the fresh air. Alternatively, you can ventilate the room well so that the gases dissipate.
Pay attention to your safety: If gases escape in closed rooms, they are not only toxic, but often also highly flammable. Open fire or flying sparks can ignite the gas.
Only when the affected person has been rescued from the dangerous situation are further first aid measures advisable – i.e. calming the patient, placing them in the recovery position if they are unconscious and resuscitating them if necessary.
First aid for poisoning with chemicals
If someone has gotten chemicals (e.g. acid) in their eyes or on their skin, rinse the area thoroughly with cold, clear water for at least ten minutes. If the eyes are affected, keep the eyelid open as much as possible and always rinse from the nose to the temple.
Do not remove any clothing soaked in the chemical from the affected person – you could possibly tear the skin underneath!
Poisoning: When to see a doctor?
Poisoning: examinations by the doctor
In order to be able to initiate the right treatment, the doctor must find out more about the possible cause and severity of the poisoning.
To do this, he will first obtain important background information in an interview (anamnesis): If possible, he will ask the patient what substances he has come into contact with (by ingestion, inhalation, touching, etc.). They will also ask how much of a suspected meal was eaten or how much of a chemical was swallowed, for example. It is also important to know when this happened and how soon symptoms developed. If the patient is unresponsive or too young, you as the first aider may be able to provide this necessary information.
It is also helpful for the doctor if you as the first aider have recovered the poisonous meal, the medication, the chemical and/or the patient’s vomit. This makes it easier to determine the exact cause of the poisoning.
A physical examination (including blood pressure measurement, etc.) will provide the doctor with information about the patient’s general condition. It may also provide clues as to the type of poisoning. For example, some toxins change the odor of the breath in a characteristic way. And any injection sites may indicate that the patient has injected drugs.
- Blood analysis: The cause of the poisoning (drugs, carbon monoxide, etc.) can often be detected in the blood. In addition, blood values often provide indications of possible organ dysfunctions (such as the liver or kidneys) as a result of the poisoning.
- Urine test: This test can be used to detect drugs, for example.
- Stool examination: The doctor will have a stool sample analyzed if he suspects salmonella poisoning, for example.
- X-ray examination: Sometimes the cause of poisoning can be identified on X-ray images, for example metals such as lead, swallowed drug packages (in the case of drug couriers), swallowed batteries or animal remains from an attack by a poisonous animal (e.g. poisonous teeth).
Poisoning: treatment by a doctor
Poisoning does not always require medical treatment. If it does, hospitalization may be necessary under certain circumstances. Treatment involves monitoring or stabilizing the patient’s state of health and helping the body to excrete the ingested poison more quickly (usually via the urine) or to deactivate it (usually via the liver).
Ensuring bodily function
In the event of kidney failure, the patient may receive blood washing (dialysis). In very severe cases, where the liver and/or kidneys have become permanently dysfunctional as a result of the poisoning, an organ transplant may be necessary.
Prevent absorption and spread of the poison
The doctor can administer activated charcoal if the affected person has swallowed poison. It binds the poisonous substance in the digestive tract so that it can no longer enter the bloodstream. However, activated charcoal is not effective against all poisons; it is ineffective against many household chemicals or alcohol. It also has no effect on toxins that have already entered the bloodstream.
If the poison is ingested orally, it may also make sense to pump the affected person’s stomach. The doctor will do this if the poison is very dangerous or the patient’s general state of health is poor.
Administering an antidote
There are special antidotes for some poisons (e.g. paracetamol, heroin, some snake venoms). Their administration can be useful in cases of severe poisoning. However, the affected person often recovers on their own.
Further measures
Depending on the type and extent of the poisoning, further measures may be useful. For example, if poisonous substances have got into the eyes or onto the skin of the affected person, the doctor will rinse the respective parts of the body with plenty of (saline) water.
Preventing poisoning
Various precautionary measures reduce the risk of accidental poisoning. They are particularly advisable in households with children:
- Keep medicines in a place that is inaccessible to children. A lockable medicine cabinet is best suited for this purpose.
- Lock medicines away after each use, even if they are needed several times a day (by you or someone else in your household).
- Never leave medicines lying around. Colored pills in particular are very similar to candy, making them easy for small children to grab.
- Always keep household chemicals such as cleaning agents, washing-up liquid and detergents out of reach of children, preferably in a lockable cupboard.
- Never transfer chemicals into food packaging, e.g. into a juice bottle. If you do, label the container large and clearly!
- In general, always label containers with chemicals or other poisons clearly and make sure they have childproof closures.
- Do not get distracted if you have just opened household chemicals. Close the bottle or container again when you turn your attention to other children, answer a phone call or when the doorbell rings.
- Keep alcoholic drinks out of the reach of children. Even small amounts of alcohol are very dangerous for small children. It is best to keep alcoholic drinks locked away so that older children are not tempted to try them.
- Teach your children about the dangers of medicines, household chemicals, poisonous plants, mushrooms, cigarettes and alcohol at an early age, but in an age-appropriate manner.
- Discuss and review measures to prevent poisoning in other households where your child often spends time, e.g. with grandparents or the childminder.
