Revealed: The potentially deadly hazards in this woman's handbag that pose a serious health risk to babies and toddlers
- Tiny Hearts First Aid shared a seemingly innocent image of a handbag on social
- But it's the contents inside that are dangerous for young children
- Things like paracetamol, chewing gum, coins and batteries are all dangerous
- A 5c coin can block an infant's airways while a $2 coin can block a child's
- Co-founder of the business Rachael Waia pointed out the issues to FEMAIL
Mothers don't often look at their everyday handbags as a major source of danger around a baby or toddler.
But Tiny Hearts First Aid's co-founder and national training manager, Rachael Waia, has highlighted the very serious choking and suffocation hazards often found in a handbag by sharing a single image on social media.
The image, which has a collection of 16 everyday items, includes things like Paracetamol, an iPhone charging cable, car keys, chewing gum and a hairbrush.
And every single item is capable of causing serious harm to a child.
The image, which has a collection of 16 everyday items, includes things like paracetamol, an iPhone charging cable, car keys, chewing gum and a hairbrush
The medication is one of the most obvious signs of danger, with Mrs Waia pointing out that ibuprofen has the potential to accidentally poison a young child and can also block the airway if swallowed incorrectly.
'The chewing gum is a problem too, because most children don't know to chew it and so it becomes quite gummy in their mouth and can easily cover the top of their throat,' Mrs Waia explained.
The Bonjela, an ulcer soother, and highlighter lids usually do not have safety caps on them so children can easily undo them.
'The caps are definitely a choking hazard,' Mrs Waia said.
Meanwhile the coins pictured pose their own choking risk, with the different sizes posing problems for different age groups.
'A 5c coin can block an infant's airways while a $2 coin can block a child's,' she pointed out.
'The silver and gold in the coins can also be a poisoning risk, as can be the amount of germs that sit on our coins.'
Batteries, as pictured, can cause burns to the airways. It's important to remember this with electronic car keys that children might get their hands on, particularly if they can pry the battery out of it quite easily.
Mrs Waia recommends being wary about how close your handbag is to a child, and placing it on higher surfaces instead of the floor
The hairbrush - and hair left inside it - as well as the elastic band can tourniquet around an infants wrists, fingers and toes and cause strangulation of these extremities.
'The headphones and charging cable can also be a strangulation issue should a young child get their hands on them,' Mrs Waia said.
The chocolate, while incredibly tasty, is also a sizing issue and can cause a choking hazard. If a child is found to be allergic to the contents of the chocolate, they might go into anaphylactic shock.
Mrs Waia recommends being wary about how close your handbag is to a child, and placing it on higher surfaces instead of the floor.
In an emergency call 000 and if your child has swallowed something you believe to be dangerous call the Poisons Information Hotline on 13 11 26. Never induce vomiting.
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