Posted on 08/05/2022 12:49:40 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Congress has passed a bipartisan bill named after a toddler who died after ingesting a battery. Reese's Law, named for Reese Hamsmith, who died last year at 18 months old, strengthens safety standards for products with button batteries, commonly found in everyday items.
U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, introduced the legislation nicknamed Reese's Law in the Senate earlier this year.
"We are relieved this common-sense legislation has passed Congress and is on its way to President Biden's desk to become law so families can have greater peace of mind about the safety of products in their home," the pair said in a news release following the bill's passage in the Senate on Wednesday.
In 2020, Hamsmith swallowed a small, flat battery, called a button cell or coin battery, which are often found in household items like cameras, calculators, flashing apparel and even greeting cards. "If swallowed, these batteries can pose a serious danger to young children and infants, and can cause serious injuries, severe internal burns, or even death," the news release reads.
About a month later, she died after a long hospital stay.
The legislation will create performance standards that require these batteries to be secured, require warning labels and require that the warning labels clearly identify the hazard of ingestion, among other things.
The legislation will undoubtedly save lives, Reese's mother, Trista Hamsmith, said in a statement. "I often talk about the plaque that was in Reese's hospital room which read, 'He has a plan and I have a purpose.' Reese's life was taken way too soon, but her legacy will live on through this law so that no other family will have to suffer like ours," she said.
Hamsmith announced the introduction of the legislation at the Capitol in September 2021. The bill was introduced in the House by a group of bipartisan representatives, where it passed earlier this year.
Following her daughter's death, Hamsmith founded Reese's Purpose, an organization that advocates to protect children from hidden dangers and threats to their safety. She created a Change.org petition to raise awareness about the issue and the legislation and urged people to call their representatives and ask them to pass the bill.
Button batteries, also known as lithium batteries, can get stuck in the throat when swallowed and saliva triggers an electric current which can cause a chemical reaction. The esophagus can be severely burned in as little as two hours and it could lead to death, according to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP.
If you suspect your child has swallowed a button battery, CHOP says to look for signs like drooling, decreased eating or drinking, difficulty swallowing, hoarse voice, vomiting, chest pain or discomfort, abdominal pain, blood in saliva and stool and sudden crying.
If you think your child has swallowed a battery, they should be taken to the emergency room immediately.
Do not give the child anything to eat or drink, or any medications to make then move their bowels or vomit, CHOP says. Milk will not prevent further injury.
"Do not attempt the Heimlich maneuver, even if you saw your child swallow the battery," they advise. "The battery could get stuck another area or change its location and increase the risk of injury."
To prevent this from happening, parents should know where these batteries are in their home and keep them out of reach from children, and spread the word about the risk, CHOP says.
“I do the same...and mine gives me a devilish smile before proceeding.”
+++++
They do have that look, don’t they? As in, “I bet you I can get this in my mouth quicker than you can get to me and stop me!”
“Imagine a smart watch “
Smart watch batteries are not easily removed.
If it’s anything like an iPhone, more like brain surgery, LOL.
I’ve done several of those.
“I agree. Haven’t perused the 4500 pages, but that would be my guess.”
This bill requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish product safety standards with respect to batteries that pose an ingestion hazard (e.g., button cell or coin batteries).
Specifically, consumer products with these batteries must include (1) a warning label instructing consumers to keep the batteries out of the reach of children, and (2) a battery compartment that prevents access to the batteries by children who are six years of age or younger.
Additionally, such batteries, if sold separately or included separately with a product, must comply with federal child-resistant packaging regulations.
Same here. And I've got a bunch of these of various sizes and of questionable charge remaining lying in junk drawers around the house.
I mean, who thinks it’s okay to feed your toddler batteries?
Are we gonna have background checks for batteries now? Required training courses? Permission from a local official to possess one?
Seeing that movie was one of the strangest, headache-inducing experiences of my life.
I think that's the way to go. It's just common sense.
And just imagine the biceps and triceps development you'd get from wearing a five pound wristwatch?
Make it so!
Ambulance chasers ruined gas cans, too.
“They do. And with grandchildren, it’s much harder to prove to them decisively that they are wrong.”
+++
Yeah, the old saying is true. “If I had known how much fun it was to have grandchildren, I would have had them first”.
Now we have the time, knowledge and experience, but we just don’t have the energy. All my grandchildren, even the three year old (especially the three year old) can out-run me. I have to depend on my stern “Grandma” voice to get them to stop. (I don’t really have a “stern” Grandma voice)
After giving it some thought, I decided that labeling seems like a very useless idea & it would cost extra, I’m sure. I guess there is just a price to be paid to have certain conveniences but I wish it wasn’t the life of a small child.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
If we put severe restriction on every object that causes the tragic death of a toddler..when will it end?
Buckets not allowed anymore? No steak knives? No matches?
Need common sense parenting and the willingness to accept some bad fate. Just like the last 10,000 years of civilization.
Those things will sneak up on you.
One minute they’re there staring at you, and the next thing
you know something sneaks past your lips into your throat.
You slowly get ill over a month, with strong abdominal pain,
and the hospital doesn’t even think of doing a normal
everyday radiology scan of the abdominal region.
Next thing you know the next of kin gets a free battery.
Folks, there are so many things for kids to choke on.
If you let this battery go, you’ll let a number of other
things go too.
You just can’t eliminate every danger in life.
This becomes so juvenile over time.
I feel like somebody owes me retroactively.
You could like tattoo a little “+” on one side of their ear and a “-” on the other side!
I was thinking the same thing, the tattoo idea lends a twist though LOL.
“In 2020, Hamsmith swallowed a small, flat battery, called a button cell or coin battery”
Darwin Award.
As a grandma now, I am astounded that my daughter and her husband pretend that they’re capable of raising children. Clearly, they’re too young and…well, young. :). Idk how my parents sat by and watched me raise my kids…except I am doing the same. :). Takes a lot of prayer. I’ll bet that’s how some older people find Jesus.
Two bricks.🙄
All my ducts look old fashioned. We need to upgrade to the new fashionable ducts!
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