A three-year-old girl is brought to a regional emergency department 30 minutes after drinking from an unlabell…

Question

A three-year-old girl is brought to a regional emergency department 30 minutes after drinking from an unlabelled bottle her father had decanted drain cleaner into. She is sitting forward drooling, will not swallow, and has soft inspiratory stridor at rest; her voice is muffled. Her oxygen saturation is 96% on air and her heart rate is 150 per minute. Her father has brought the original container, which lists sodium hydroxide. Which one of the following should be done first?

Accepted Answer

Summon anaesthetic help to secure the airway

Answer

Give morphine 0.1 mg/kg intravenously

Answer

Give water 10 mL/kg orally to dilute

Answer

Obtain an urgent chest and neck radiograph

Answer

Telephone the Poisons Information Centre for advice

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