The experts, a General Practitioner, Dr. Rotimi Adesanya, and a Registrar Anaesthesia and critical care specialist, Dr. Julian Ojebo spoke in an exclusive interview with PUNCH HealthWise.

Dr. Adesanya who works at the Federal College of Education – Technical, Akoka, Lagos, said there are many sides to the management of poison.

He said that the first aid treatment for persons experiencing signs of being poisoned is to quickly go to the hospital. to properly ascertain the cause of the poisoning and get the appropriate treatment.

The treatment, he said, depends on the poison ingested or how long the person has taken it.

He said, “For people that have ingested poison, medically we do not tell them to go and take palm oil or eat cooking charcoal to neutralise the poison.

“The management of poison has many sides to it. It depends on what the person has swallowed and how long the person has swallowed it. The person is expected to be quickly rushed to the hospital and what will be done at the hospital depends on the poison. We look for antidotes.

“There are antidotes to certain poisons. We give antidotes to poisons and then some poisons that we do not know what they are or we don’t have their antidotes, we can do what is called gastric lavage,” Dr. Adesanya said.

The physician further added that activated charcoal is sometimes used in hospitals as a treatment option for poison.

This activated charcoal, Dr. Adesanya stated that is the pure form of charcoal. It is refined, free from impurities, and it will absorb all the fluid the patient has taken.

He said, “We also make use of charcoal but the charcoal we use is activated charcoal. It is a form of refined charcoal that is used in the hospital. The impurities and waste that are inside the charcoal have been removed so it is called activated charcoal.

“It is normally sold at the pharmacy and is very effective in the sense that it is going to absorb all the fluids in the intestine of the person. These fluids include water, electrolytes, and the poison the person ingested.”

 Dr. Adesanya however noted that in a situation where the activated charcoal absorbs too much water in the body, the individual could be at risk of constipation, adding that if not properly managed, in severe cases, can lead to the blockage of the bowel.

The expert said, “The activated charcoal will absorb all the fluids in the intestine of the person including water, including electrolytes, including the poison the person has taken, so as a result of it absorbs too much water the person may have constipation and if not well managed can lead to a bowel obstruction that is blockage of the bowel but that is only in extreme cases.

“In the absence of activated charcoal, people that take the normal charcoal may not get the best because that is not as active absorbent as the activated charcoal.

“The absorbent property of the normal charcoal they sell in the market is very low and cannot do much. The charcoal used for cooking also contains a lot of impurities so it won’t benefit the person,” he said.

Speaking further with PUNCH Healthwise, Dr. Julian Ojebo who works at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, said when someone accidentally ingests poison, the person should be rushed to the hospital along with the container of the poison ingested.

The expert noted that doing this will enable the doctor to treat and manage the patient appropriately.

“When someone inadvertently takes poison, the first thing you should do is run to the hospital and also go along with the container of the poison ingested so that they know what the person has taken and can treat appropriately.”

Dr. Ojebo further warned against inducing vomiting, noting that it may cause further harm to the person.

He also stated that an individual should not ingest any other thing after ingesting poison.

He said, “Some people may want to activate gag reflex and in the process may hurt themselves because they may want to induce vomiting to vomit what they’ve ingested.

“It is wrong to do that, do not induce vomiting. Do not give palm oil, it is just a myth, it does nothing and you are just increasing the gastric volume.

“Also, do not ingest any other things, not water, not milk, not alcohol and not the normal cooking charcoal.”

Dr. Julian Also urged individuals experiencing signs of being poisoned to go to institutions that have emergency units because that is where activated charcoals are usually kept.

“Try not to induce vomiting, try not to use anything to increase gastric volume, run to the EU and also go with the container of what the person ingested so they can see and treat accordingly,” the expert stressed.

Source: healthwise