Poisoning accidents among children: free material gives information on the BfR app
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is providing doctors' practices, pharmacies and children's day care centres with posters and cards to draw attention to the BfR app "Poisoning accidents among children". The prize-winning app gives information on chemicals, medicines, fungi and plants which can cause poisoning accidents among children - and on how to avoid them. A direct call to a Poison Information Centre is also possible via the app in an emergency. "The information material should be laid out in doctors' practices, children's day care centres and schools so that the parents and carers of small children can find out about the app," says BfR President, Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel. "In an emergency, the app helps people to make the right decision". Poisoning is the most common type of accident among children after falls.
The app "Poisoning accidents among children" offers precautionary advice and emergency assistance at the same time by conveying knowledge on how to protect babies and small children from poisoning. It also contains recommendations on how to avoid accidents through the childproof storage of medicines, household chemicals and other products, for example. "Poisoning accidents among children" cannot replace the emergency number 112, but the app gives tips which can save lives in an emergency. A call to one of the eight Poison Information Centres in Germany is also possible directly from the app. Cases of poisoning must be treated correctly and properly in all instances.
Free posters, stand-up displays and memo cards about the app are available to doctors, pharmacies and child care facilities (in German). The posters come in the size A2. Memo cards can be ordered as required with or without display stands via the BfR website, per e-mail or by regular mail from: German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany, e-mail: publikationen@bfr.bund.de
The "Poisoning accidents among children" app was published in August 2013 as the first BfR app. It was awarded the German Prize for Online Communication in 2014 in the "Mobile and Apps" category. The BfR made a technical update of the app at the end of 2018 and expanded its contents so that it now includes all plants on the official list of poisonous plant species with photo, for example. The app is available for free download using the Android and iOS operating systems.
More information on the app and information materials at:
- https://www.bfr.bund.de/en/press_information/2018/36/poisoned__the_bfr_app_for_emergencies-207877.html
- https://www.bfr.bund.de/de/apps_vergiftungsunfaelle.html (in german)
- https://www.bfr.bund.de/de/plakate-karten.html (in german)
About the BfR
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is a scientifically independent institution within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in Germany. It advises the Federal Government and Federal Laender on questions of food, chemical and product safety. The BfR conducts its own research on topics that are closely linked to its assessment tasks.
This text version is a translation of the original German text which is the only legally binding version.