Because rat poison is intended to kill rats, it should go without saying that it contains potent chemicals that may be hazardous to human health. Rat poison is meant to kill rats.
Seek emergency medical assistance if you have accidentally ingested rat poison. The operator of the emergency services centre may supply you with various directions, but it will all depend on how much of the poison you swallowed and what kind it was. Nevertheless, you should call your local poison control centre as soon as possible. Do not put off seeking medical attention until the onset of your symptoms since doing so puts your health in serious jeopardy.
Either dial 911 or call the Poison Control Center at (800) 222-1222 to speak with someone there.
The following actions can be taken before you seek medical help:
- Dial 1-800-222-1222 to reach the National Poison Control Center. They can provide you with suggestions about what to do next.
- Analyze how much rat poison you consumed. The medical expert will need this information to choose the best course of therapy.
- Drink a lot of water to assist your body in ridding itself of the toxin.
- Unless directed to do so by a medical practitioner, avoid making vomiting.
- Go to the closest emergency room or dial 911 if you can’t contact the poison control centre. In these circumstances, time is essential. Therefore, it’s critical to get assistance as soon as you can.
Additionally, it’s a good idea to save the rat poison container and bring it with you to the hospital so that the staff members can identify the poison and its components.
Common Symptoms
You may not have consumed rat poison, but you think you have. There are situations when this happens. In this scenario, you may check for the symptoms to indicate that you have consumed the poison and need medical assistance.
Symptoms Vary Based on the Poison
It is essential to remember that the symptoms will, to a certain degree, differ from one toxin to another. Warfarin is a blood thinner often recommended to people with a heart attack or stroke. Many rat poisons include warfarin. Thallium sulphate is included in certain other types of rat poison. Difenacoum, brodifacoum, & bromadiolone are all examples of second-generation rat poisons known for their high toxicity.
Symptoms may not appear for a long time
You should also be aware that the symptoms of having consumed rat poison may manifest themselves within hours or take days. Because of this, however, detecting which poison was eaten becomes much more difficult unless you already know which one was there.
The Key Symptoms
This means you should watch out for symptoms like these:
- nosebleeds that are not caused by any external harm to the nose
- gums that bleed for no apparent reason other than oral trauma
- dyspnea (shortness of breath
- hematochezia (bloody diarrhoea)
- hematuria (bloody urine)
- extreme tiredness
Extreme weariness is a highly significant symptom since it is one of the latter signs of rat poison intake, which is a very hazardous situation to be in.
If You Do Not Get Care
If you do not get treatment for the rat poison as quickly as possible, you risk experiencing further catastrophic repercussions, which might be life-threatening. These symptoms may include convulsions, heart attacks, liver failure, difficulty breathing, coma, shock, internal bleeding, and even unexpected death.
It is important to remember that rat poisoning is not the only condition that may cause these symptoms. You may also have comparable symptoms for various reasons, depending on the underlying cause. However, you should seek medical treatment if there is even the slightest possibility that you may have consumed rat poison.
Should You Take Something?
If you accidentally drink rat poison, some individuals recommend consuming syrup of ipecac or activated charcoal to treat the symptoms. It is intended that you may use them as a temporary measure before getting proper medical attention.
Never consume anything, even activated charcoal or syrup of ipecac, unless the poison control centre or the emergency operator tells you to. They will be able to provide you with sound advice, which may include suggesting that you see a doctor.
In addition, it is improbable that you already own any of those products in your house. As a result, you will need to trip to a shop to purchase them. You would generally be better off utilising your time at the store to get to the emergency room faster than at the shop.
How Can You Be Sure That You Have Consumed Rat Poison?
You or a family member may have accidentally consumed rat poison; however, you may not always be able to confirm this suspicion. Consult a doctor if you experience any of the symptoms above, particularly if there is even a remote probability that you may have ingested rat poison. Your ailment will be evaluated by a medical professional, and they will inform you whether or not the rat poison was likely the cause of the issue or whether or not another factor is at play.
If numerous individuals in your house suddenly begin exhibiting the same symptoms, this is a more compelling indication that you may have accidentally swallowed rat poison. In this particular instance, it is quite possible that you all unintentionally drank it simultaneously.
Preventing Rat Poison Ingestion
In your best interest, avoid putting yourself in a position where you may unintentionally consume rat poison since doing so almost always results in spending some time in a medical facility.
Rodenticide Bait Laws
To our good fortune, the law mitigates the danger of unintentionally ingesting rat poison to some degree. Because of this, all rodenticide bait has been required to be marketed in blocks since 2011 rather than being distributed loose or as pellets. In addition, it must be contained inside a bait station that cannot be altered. Because of these laws, it is now much more difficult to swallow anything by mistake, particularly for adults.
Store and Use It Out of the Way
Store the poison at a location apart from food and other critical objects in the home to further reduce the risk of it being consumed by mistake. When positioning the rat, you should always try to place it in a spot that is out of the way and, once again, in an area that is distant from food and water sources. Because of this, the potential for contamination will be drastically reduced.
If you have pets or young children, it is particularly crucial to keep the rat poison hidden since any of these groups may be able to get the poison and endanger themselves by ingesting it. It is also a good idea to teach your children that rat poison is “yucky” and unsafe so that they will avoid being tempted to try it for themselves.
Wash your hands
You must wash your hands well after handling the rat poison since you do not want to risk ingesting even a trace quantity of it by mistake. It is best to avoid coming into close contact with the poison at all costs; nevertheless, if this is impossible, you must carefully clean your hands afterwards.
The Takeaway
After considering all of the data, there are a few highly significant conclusions that can be drawn. Call poison control or 911 immediately if you or another person accidentally ingests rat poison or if you have cause to think that someone else may have done so. Listen carefully to the person on the other end of the call, who will direct you to follow their directions, which will most likely advise you to visit the emergency department and potentially perform some actions in the meantime.
Ingestion of rat poison unintentionally might result in a few days spent in the hospital if the situation is detected quickly. However, if it is not treated on time, there is a chance that it may result in death. It is usually best to avoid caution in a scenario like this, but the specific symptoms and timetable may change depending on the kind of rat poison used.
Also Checkout: How to Find and Remove a Dead Rat from Walls or Ceilings