The children in danger from a Lithium Battery

These days a lot of children are admitted to hospitals for battery-ingestion related sickness. For this reason parents should be watchful of leaving any lithium battery anywhere in the house.
 
Parents may not understand that ingesting a lithium battery can be deadly. Ingesting these batteries can result in some serious consequences on young children, from choking to perforating the esophagus. If the battery gets trapped in the upper or lower esophagus it might lead to a mild tissue burn that can eventually damage the esophagus.
 
In severe cases, the acid from the lithium battery can cause chemical burn and damage the tissue. These burns can also lead to internal bleeding. Unfortunately, it could take less than two hours to successfully remove a lithium battery from the esophagus.

Regrettably, on many instances no one sees a child swallow a lithium battery.  Parents detect it only after the damage has been done and the child is sick already. For this reason, caregivers are warned not to leave any battery around the house.

Small lithium batteries are normally used in handy electronic devices, such as remote car locks, camcorders, PDAs, thermometers, watches, calculators, digital cameras, laptop BIOS, and communication equipment. Because lithium batteries are so common in our house, parents must make sure that they keep them out of the children’s reach. They should also be very careful when disposing old batteries. Should a child accidentally ingest a battery, parents are advised to seek medical help as soon as possible.