What to do if someone is exposed to household chemicals

Official updatesLU-Alert · RTL, 100.7 · 112

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Move away from fumes into fresh air without putting yourself at risk. If fumes are strong, leave the building. Keep children and pets away.
Call 112 immediately if the person is unconscious, has trouble breathing or is badly hurt. Follow the operator's first-aid instructions.
In the eyes: start rinsing immediately with lukewarm running water. Hold the eyelids open and rinse for at least Status: Verified minutes, longer for corrosive products. Ask someone to call the poison centre while you rinse.
On the skin: protect your hands and remove contaminated clothing. Carefully brush off dry chemicals first, then rinse with plenty of cool or lukewarm running water. Keep rinsing while getting advice; do not apply creams or other chemicals.
If swallowed: do not make the person vomit. Do not give them food, drink or a home remedy. Do not wait for symptoms before seeking advice.
Call the poison centre on 8002 5500. Have the container or label ready; say what happened, when, how much was involved and what symptoms the person has.
Stay with the person and watch their breathing. If they become unresponsive or stop breathing normally, call 112 and follow the operator's instructions.

Keep cleaning, garden and car products in their original containers, with the labels on. Never pour them into drinks bottles.
Store them high up or locked away, out of reach of children and pets.
Never mix cleaning products with each other. Some mixtures give off toxic gas.
Use strong products with the window open, and follow the instructions on the label.

Write the poison centre number and Status: Verified into your household plan and keep them next to the phone.
Take a first-aid course with the Red Cross or the CGDIS (cours.cgdis.lu). Keep disposable gloves in the first-aid kit; see the emergency kit checklist.
If someone feels ill near a fuel-burning heater, boiler or engine, suspect carbon monoxide. It has no smell.

Air the room well before anyone goes back in, and clean up a spill only if the poison centre says it is safe to do so.
If symptoms come back or get worse, call the poison centre or a doctor again.
Work out how it happened, and move or lock away the product so it cannot happen again.
If you feel guilty or shaken after your child was exposed, talk to someone you trust. See Coping with a crisis.
For a leak or cloud from a factory or a lorry, not from your home, see Chemical leak.

Young children put things in their mouths and cannot read labels. If a child may have swallowed or touched a product, call the poison centre straight away.
Keep the product and the packaging, so you can tell the poison centre exactly what it was.

Keep products in their own containers, away from food and medicines, so they cannot be mistaken for something else.
Ask someone to help with strong products if you have trouble seeing or keeping your hands steady.

Call your vet straight away if an animal licks, swallows or walks through a product.