– Hi, I'm Denver and I work at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. And I help the kids at
the hospital feel better. Today, I wanted to talk about
an important topic, medicine. I've been learning about medicine, like why I take it and
when I need to take it, but I know that there is
still more I need to learn. Let's take a look at how
we can work together, so we can be safe around medicine. Do you know where your adults
keep medicine in your house? – My mom keeps my medicine in the kitchen and other medicines in a locked box. – [Denver] No matter where
medicine is kept in your house, it's important for adults to keep them up and out of your reach, so you
don't accidentally take it when it's not time.
If you see medication where
it's not supposed to be, remind adults to put
it away somewhere safe. Sometimes, even grandparents
need this reminder. – [Girl] My mom and dad keep medicine up and away in cabinets. Even though I can reach them,
I know I can't take them out. I also know only an adult
I trust can give it to me. – Oh, right. I should never take medicine
that's left on the counter without my adult there giving it to me and watching me take it. We talked about how easy it can be to mistake medicine for candy, because some of them look alike. Can you tell the difference
between these pictures? Which one is medicine? (low-key music) This one is tough. Even though you may be
able to tell the difference when they are side by side,
if the medicine is by itself, it can be hard to tell. Speaking of giving medicine,
how do you take medicine? – When my mom gives me medicine, she checks the bottle for instructions and the time I have to take it.
Then, she uses the cup
the medicine comes with to measure how much I need to take. After I take the medicine,
my mom puts it back in the safe location, up and away. Now that I'm getting older,
there's some medicines that I can take that are pills. And I don't have to drink them any more. – My adult tells me it's important to only take medicine when needed, and to only take it if a trusted adult is available to give it to me.
They also said it's important to never share my
medicine with anyone else, because it could cause them harm. Medicine that is given to me
by a doctor is for me only to help treat my very specific needs. What do you do if your
medicine is left over? Or what do you do with your
medicine if your pain is gone? – After a few days, I felt
better and told my mom. She said I could stop taking the medicine, but we needed to find somewhere
safe to throw it away. She looked online and found out there's a medication
disposal bin at our pharmacy. We went together to throw it away. – [Girl] When I was all
done taking my medicine, my mom said we weren't able
to go to a safe disposal site. So, she made sure the
medicine was tossed safely by mixing it with kitty litter. – [Kids] Yuck! – My mom said that when
there's leftover medicine, we need to throw it away, but we can't just throw it away
like we do with other trash.
Mom says we need to mix
it with something gross, like kitty litter or used coffee grounds. That way, nobody can find the medicine and take it by accident. – You can also bring it to a hospital, like the one I work at,
because they have special bins that are only for medicine. My adult says we can
take it to other places, where police officers
and other trusted adults can throw it away for us. I have a question for you.
What if my friend who
was sick needs medicine? Can I just give it to them? – No! – I wouldn't do that. Only your friend's doctor or
adult can give them medicine. You should never share your
medicine with somebody else. – I now know that my adult
should keep my medicine in a safe place so that
only they can give it to me when it's the right time. I also learned why it's important to safely throw away medicine
after I'm done with it by taking it back to the hospital and using the special bins for medicine or mixing it with something
yucky like kitty litter.
Check out my other
videos about what pain is and ways to help when we feel pain. (upbeat music).
