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Warning-sign checks

Dry cell battery poisoning: when to get help

Go through these in order and stop at the first one that applies. If you are reading this for someone else, answer for them.

  1. 1

    Is any of this happening now?

    Call 911

    Call emergency services for:

    • Trouble breathing, choking, collapse, or reduced alertness
    • Severe chest or abdominal pain
    • Vomiting blood or passing black or bloody stool
    • A swallowed button battery
    • Severe eye pain or sudden vision loss
    • Extensive burns of the face, mouth, or throat

    And for anyone, someone who:

    • you believe has taken an overdose or swallowed something poisonous
    Other emergency signs, for anyone
    • Someone who is struggling to breathe, gasping, choking, or cannot get words out
    • Someone who has chest pain, tightness or pressure lasting more than a few minutes
    • Someone who has sudden weakness or drooping on one side of the face or body, slurred speech, or sudden confusion
    • Someone who is unconscious, or cannot be woken
    • Someone who is bleeding heavily and it will not stop with firm pressure
    • Someone who has had a seizure that will not stop, or does not wake up afterwards
    • Someone who has lips or skin that look pale, blue, grey or blotchy
  2. 2

    Is any of this happening?

    Be seen today

    Get urgent medical advice immediately if any battery may have been swallowed.

    Treat a missing button battery as a possible ingestion, especially if a child has unexplained drooling, coughing, vomiting, or feeding difficulty.

    Contact a poison information service promptly after exposure to leaking battery contents, even if symptoms seem mild.

    Have the packaging available if it is safe and easy to obtain.

The article also says

Attend all arranged appointments after an internal burn or battery removal.

Seek earlier review if swallowing becomes harder, food sticks, vomiting continues, abdominal pain develops, or a skin or eye injury does not heal as expected.

Every sign above is quoted from the sofidex article on Dry cell battery poisoning. If you are not sure, err upward — it is always reasonable to be checked.