Warning!

[aelfgyfu_mead]

A little girl ate some Skittles that she seems to have found in the bathroom in OUR AIRPORT, Tampa International. Only they weren't just Skittles; there were Oxycodone pills mixed in with them. The grandparents think the bag was sealed, but they weren't really checking closely; they didn't realize that she hadn't brought them from home.
Articles in The St. Pete Times and The Tampa Tribune.

I feel just sick about this. I can totally imagine Small Child finding candy and hiding it from us, because we limit her intake. She can open most candy by herself and might know to make sure it's still sealed, but the grandparents here didn't realize it may not have been properly sealed, so how would a Small Child know? Unlike this four-year-old, our child might then eat it alone in her room, perhaps at bedtime, so that it might be hours before we realized anything was wrong. It might, in fact, be too late by the time we realized.

Please be alert, especially if you have kids. We would never let SC eat candy she just found somewhere--but she knows that now and so might keep it secret. It's important to talk to kids and let them know how serious this is.

ETA: I should note that the girl was released from the hospital Monday; she's fine now.

Comments

[beanpot.livejournal.com]

Oh wow - just wow.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I should note: the girl is fine now; she was released from the hospital on Monday.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

That's why I'm always on Ronin about putting ANYTHING into his mouth!!

*Shudders*

What a nightmare!!

*hugs you close*

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Yes! It's scary!

The good news, which I've added to the entry, is that the girl is okay. She was released from the hospital Monday already, which either wasn't in the articles I read, or I missed it in my panic. She's fully recovered.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness! It so easily could have gone the other way!

*hugs*

[nialla]

This reminds me of a scare I had several months ago. I walked around to the front of the circ desk while shelving, and noticed about a half-dozen very bright pink things (think hot pink cotton candy color) on the floor.

I knew immediately what they were (Darvocet), because I take them myself, but all of mine are at home except for an emergency dose in a pill box in my purse.

I guess someone either had loose pills in their pocket or a pill bottle came open, but we walked every aisle in the library just to be sure there weren't more. Even walked around outside the building to be completely certain.

I can't imagine what that amount would do to a kid, but I doubt it would be pleasant.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Oh, wow! Yeah, sometimes people just make mistakes. A few years back, BH's distant cousin stayed with us, and after she left, I found what I thought was a Smartie on the floor: it had the bright color and what I thought was candy coating. It wasn't. It was a laxative. Small Child was still very much at the "put everything in my mouth!" stage, so I was very glad I found it before she did.

The oxycodone apparently made the girl deeply lethargic, but she was pronounced well and discharged from hospital the next day. They don't know how much she consumed. Apparently she told her grandmother the candy tasted bad and wanted to spit it out, but the grandmother thought she just got a color she didn't like and wouldn't let her! I'm sure she's feeling all kinds of guilt about that. I'd hope it was just one Oxycodone based on that. There were four more in the bag.

I know nothing about Darvocet, but six pills of darned near anything could be quite a problems for small children. As a parent, I really appreciate people like you taking the time and care to make sure that no stray ones have been missed!

[nialla]

Darvocet is a painkiller. I'm told it's weaker than Vicodin, but Vicodin doesn't hit the correct pain receptors for my type of pain. Darvocet at least dulls the pain when it gets really bad.

It can definitely knock someone for a loop, so that many pills in a child could be very, very bad.

I'm wondering if someone was trying to sneak Oxycodone (which is a black label drug and can be resold for insane amounts per pill) through security, or if they were selling it by "repackaging" it into something innocuous.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Yes, I suspect someone was trying to get it through security, either for personal use or resale. Then why leave it in the bathroom, though? Did she honestly forget (for it was a women's restroom) that valuable a package? Was she too strung out to notice? Or did she lose her nerve and deliberately leave it in the toilets before security? We'll probably never know. If she lost her nerve, she should have thrown it in the trash.

Brilliant Husband wonders if it might have been a prank. I think for once he has beaten my paranoia; that would be a heck of a "prank," and the prankster would only even know about it if things went very badly wrong--as they did.

[nialla]

I'm wondering if someone was planning to sell or had just purchased, and it simply fell out of their pocket. They might not have even realized it was gone or known where they lost it until after the child had found it. Stranger things have happened.