Nothing that a good lawsuit can’t cure...
How effin’ stupid can someone be, to (1) leave windshield washer fluid in an accessible area of a day care center, and (2) not realize that “it ain’t KOOLAID!” and give it to kids to drink?!?!
Whoever served it up to those children needs to be fired and banned from any day care working environment permanently.
Why not? Couldn't she read the name?
Nothin’ like wood alkyhol to cure what ails ye.
Was the liquid being stored in a juice container?
Can the workers read?
Jeesh.....
Presentation
* Signifcant ingestion causes nausea, vomiting and abdo pain. Its effects on the CNS resemble those of ethanol although in low doses it does not have a euphoric effect.
* Visual symptoms present with falling visual acuity, photophobia and the sensation of ‘being in a snow storm’.
Complications
* Up to 2/3rds of patients have a raised amylase (haemorrhagic pancreatitis has been reported at post mortem)
* Seizures are seen in severe intoxication. CT scanning usually shows cerebral oedema or even necrosis in the basal ganglia (a Parkinsonian-like state is sometimes seen with recovery).
* Patients with visual symptoms may develop irreversible visual impairment even with aggressive intervention.
Prognostic features
* Ingestion of only 10ml can cause blindness and 30ml can be fatal.
* Peak plasma methanol is useful although in practice the ‘peak’ is often unclear; >0.2g/1 (6.25 mmol/l) indicates significant ingestion and 0.5g/1 (15.6 mmol/l) is severe (c.f. driving limit for plasma ethanol of 17.4 mmol/L).
* Arterial pH seems to correlate best with formate levels and pH (< 7.2 is a severe intoxication).
Management
* Ipecac/gastric lavage is useful only if presenting within 2 hours of ingestion. Activated charcoal is not indicated.
* Seizures are probably best treated with phenytoin (250mg IV over 5 mins) since this will have less of a CNS depressant effect than diazepam NB exclude hypoglycaemia before giving any anticonvulsant.
* Specific antidote is ethanol and this should be given IV as a 10% solution in 5% dextrose A loading dose of 0.6g/kg should be given followed by an lVI of 0.07g/kg/hr for non-drinkers (regular drinkers should receive 0. 16g/kg/hr):
Ethanol levels should be checked to ensure they are within the treatment range 1-1.5g/L (21.7-32.6 mmol/L). Ethanol should be given to: (1) all patients pending MeOH levels and then those >0.2g/L (6.25 mmol/L); (2) acidotic patients; (3) anyone needing haemodialysis.
from http://www-clinpharm.medschl.cam.ac.uk/pages/teaching/topics/poison/poison9.html
Probably contains methanol which can cause blindness. Someone is getting sued.
I have thought for a long time that some of the colors that kids drinks come in should be changed.
There are drinks that are the identical color to antifreeze, which is sweet to the taste if kids try it.
Mistake my ass.
My local gas station now has orange colored windshield wiper fluid. When I saw that, I thought, “This is bad news”. Your basic illiterate moron knows that windshield wiper fluid is blue, and will be careful about drinking blue stuff from a gallon jug. But the orange stuff looks just like orange punch.
I don’t know the reason for the color change. But I will bet you dollars to donuts the windshield washer fluid in this story was the orange kind.
“It looked just like Skinny N’ Sweet. Well, except for that little skull and crossbones on the label...”
Funny, I thought that day care was supposed to be better for children than those awful parents. Previously employed at a Jim Jones daycare center near you?
My mother-in-law when babysitting gave my kids chicken nuggets with Famous Dave’s Devil Spit BBQ sauce.
Time to outlaw kool aide or at least enact strict kool aide laws
Why are the kids drinking kool aid anyway? When I was a day care director, we were required to serve real fruit juice — and I think that was a USDA requirement.
Holy hangover, did you see the treatment for methenol ingestion? Ethonol, and lots of it!
All the more reason not to send your children to day care.
I thought there was a plan to put hot pepper extract in windshield wiper fluid and antifreeze to keep animals from drinking it.
A little something to wash down the lead paint chips?