10 kids drink windshield-wiper fluid at day care

Calvin

Calvin

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Owner surrenders license; liquid was apparently mistaken for Kool-Aid

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Ten children at an Arkansas day-care center drank windshield wiper fluid after the owner served it from a container mistaken for Kool-Aid and placed in a refrigerator, authorities said Friday.

The day-care owner voluntarily surrendered her state license Friday.

Doctors estimate the children, ages 2 to 7, drank about an ounce of the blue fluid late Thursday afternoon before realizing it tasted wrong, said Laura James, a pediatric pharmacologist and toxicologist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.

Only one child remained hospitalized Friday in good condition, after blood samples showed “measurable levels” of methanol, a highly toxic alcohol that can induce comas and cause blindness, officials said. In moderate cases, it can cause nausea, vomiting, staggering and sleepiness, James said.

The day care also provided the fluid for testing.

The owner bought the windshield wiper fluid with several other items on a recent shopping trip, James told The Associated Press. “This product was mistakenly grabbed and thought to be Kool-Aid and put in the refrigerator,” she said.

The day care’s owner, Carolyn Bynum, was interviewed Friday by child welfare investigators and gave up her license, said Julie Munsell, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services. Bynum declined to comment to the AP, but Munsell said she accepted “total responsibility” for the incident.

No complaints since 2002
“She was so upset about what had occurred and she was definitely worried some of the children had been injured,” Munsell said. “It was just a mistake, she says. She says it was just a horrible mistake.”

Bynum’s license had allowed her to care for 10 children in her home in Scott, about 15 miles east of Little Rock. Munsell said Bynum had no found complaints or serious compliance issues since receiving the license in 2002.

By surrendering her license, Bynum can no longer care for the children without reapplying. State law requires a license when someone cares for more than five children from more than one family at the same time in their home.

The toxicologist warned that many antifreeze or windshield wiper solutions have bright colors, which can be mistaken for fruit drinks.

“I think the take-home message is not to have these products in the kitchen or where you’re doing any kind of food preparation,” she said.
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10 day care kids drink windshield fluid
 
I can see how this was just a terrible mistake, so it was very wise of the woman to give up her license... This might (probably) help her in the future to get it back? <shrug>

Glad to read though that the kids are all up and fine!

Jamie
 
Oh man!

I am so glad the owner was upfront, and honest about her mistake. I also feel it was an honest mistake.

Got to be real careful when you are dealing with other peoples children. She did the right thing by admitting and taking full responsibility.
 
i saw on tv in my hometown!

im hope daycare owner will be no longer work for their actions what did for kids and im sure that kids drank thought its fruit juice!
 
how in the heck can someone mistake windshield washer fluid for kool-aid?? I've never seen a gallon of pre-mixed Kool-Aid in a plastic jug that looks the same as windshield washer fluid. And how can you work in a day-care center and be so distracted that you both put the jug of fluid in the fridge and NOT look at the label when you're pouring? At least the worker didn't put a jug of antifreeze in the fridge. Sheesh.
 
Mod's Edit ~ URL is removed as it is repost.

I hope they get a jail sentence it could've been deadly for 10 kids
 
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flyingace said:
how in the heck can someone mistake windshield washer fluid for kool-aid?? I've never seen a gallon of pre-mixed Kool-Aid in a plastic jug that looks the same as windshield washer fluid. And how can you work in a day-care center and be so distracted that you both put the jug of fluid in the fridge and NOT look at the label when you're pouring? At least the worker didn't put a jug of antifreeze in the fridge. Sheesh.
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I was thinking the same.

I am wondering if she put it in a Kool aid container, and did not have it labeled properly.

A lot of concentrated economy size juice do come in jugs like the wind shield washer fluids. They mix it with water.

I have seen them at centers before.
 
One of the reasons that I dont completely trust day care...

If I have kids, I would rather them be babysat by close friends or relatives that I trust the most.
 
Babyblue said:
I was thinking the same.

I am wondering if she put it in a Kool aid container, and did not have it labeled properly.

A lot of concentrated economy size juice do come in jugs like the wind shield washer fluids. They mix it with water.

I have seen them at centers before.
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Why would she put windshield fluid in a Kool-Aid container?? and who is so scatterbrained or overworked that they don't double check the labels on stuff, especially when it's going to be given to kids?
 
flyingace said:
Why would she put windshield fluid in a Kool-Aid container?? and who is so scatterbrained or overworked that they don't double check the labels on stuff, especially when it's going to be given to kids?
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That's a good question. Here's what I'm thinking of --

Koolaids comes in various colors. Some of the time, there's windshield fluid that comes in bright blue color and there's bright blue color for koolaid which probably prompted her not to really "think" about it thoroughly. She may have at first thought it was the koolaid container when it was actually the windshield fluid and realized her mistake.

Although, I'm glad she did come up forward to own up to her mistake and also to take full responsibility. If she had not surrendered her daycare license, She would have been expected to be stripped of that and also it would have been a lot worse with the progress of the investigation. She only could do what she could do by trying to do the right thing and to alert the proper authorities to give the children their immediate needs.
 
flyingace said:
Why would she put windshield fluid in a Kool-Aid container?? and who is so scatterbrained or overworked that they don't double check the labels on stuff, especially when it's going to be given to kids?
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Read the second half of my post...

I have also stated that... Certain economy juices, used by several centers. They come in gallon jugs that looks like the same jugs, that the wiper fluids contains.

My mother drank kerosene when she was a child. Because my Grandfather poured it into a coke bottle. :(:dunno2:

People do stupid things.
 
Gee, what happened to her nose sense ?! I can smell the different in between Kool-aid and windshield-wiper fluid. They both don't smell the same. When you open the kool-aid pack, you can smell the REAL kool-aid differently than windshield-wiper fluid.

I've always depended on my nose sense for my safety reason.
 
10 Children Drink Windshield Wiper Fluid, Day Care Owner Surrenders License
10 Children Drink Windshield Wiper Fluid, Day Care Owner Surrenders License - todaysthv.com | KTHV | Little Rock, AR

Hospital officials say 10 children drank windshield wiper fluid after a staffer at Arkansas day care center mistook the liquid for a fruit drink.

A woman surrendered her license after 10 kids in her care were served windshield wiper fluid.

All the kids, ages 2 to 7, were brought to Children's Hospital yesterday afternoon. DHS officials say based on the initial investigation, they think this was all an accident. They say a day care assistant mistook the blue liquid for drink, possibly Kool-Aid or an energy drink, and served the kids small cups of it.

Friday there weren't any children at this home day care in Scott.

The owner Carolyn Bynum started business in 2002 according to DHS that ended today. DHS says a worker gave 10 kids some sort of windshield wiper fluid to drink.


DHS spokesperson Julie Munsell says the day after the incident investigators interviewed Bynum and learned the worker gave the blue liquid to the kids in one ounce cups.

"At this point we don't believe that there was no malice," says Munsell.

The worker says she thought it was an energy drink. Instead it's intended to clean car windows.

"Once she realized that she did take immediate steps to get the children medical treatment and she did contact some of the parents immediately," explains Munsell.

Children's' Hospital says Bynum and some parents brought the kids here for treatment, but they didn't show any signs of pain.

Pediatric toxicology specialist Dr. Laura James says doctors were concerned about possible side effects.

"We did lab work on them to evaluate for any possible problems from digestion of this windshield wiper fluid," says James.

"This product contained methanol. This is something that if ingested can cause nausea and vomiting, sleepiness and stumbling," says James.

"Some of these products are brightly colored some maybe bright blue, greens or yellows they look like a Kool-Aid," explains James.


However after five hours of tests, only one child developed measurable levels of methanol. Doctors kept her overnight and she is reportedly in good condition, but it's unlikely she or any of the kids will return to Bynum's care.

"She accepted full responsibility for what happened, but she requested that her license be closed down. She just didn't feel that she could continue to offer services to children in the area," Munsell.


DHS says altogether, Bynum had 12 children in the house, but the other two are infants and didn't drink any wiper fluid.

Although Bynum gave up her state child care license, she doesn't need one to keep five children or less. However DHS says they don't think she has any plans to do that at this point.
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day care owners will be no longer care of kids dues mistakes drinks.

IF i have my own kids somedays i would let my mom care of my kids babysitter than daycare but i would acceptance family or friend watch my own kids somedays.
 
sara1981 said:
10 Children Drink Windshield Wiper Fluid, Day Care Owner Surrenders License
10 Children Drink Windshield Wiper Fluid, Day Care Owner Surrenders License - todaysthv.com | KTHV | Little Rock, AR



day care owners will be no longer care of kids dues mistakes drinks.

IF i have my own kids somedays i would let my mom care of my kids babysitter than daycare but i would acceptance family or friend watch my own kids somedays.
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As a PreSchool teacher myself. Sad to see people look at all daycare's as if they were horrible places to have their children. When in fact they are beneficial.

I have seen more cases of deaths, or accidents, in the care of family members, than I have seen in a child care center.

What ever parents are comfortable with. IN allowing where their child stay. Is their choice.

I just wanted to let you all know. That majority of deaths and injuries to children do not happen at centers. They happen at home or in the care of a relative.
 
:jaw: OMG! :shock: That is really sad and horrible to see the children getting hurt, getting sick and etc... The children are very fragile.
 
Im glad the lady relinquished her license voluntatrily. It show that she made a mistake acted responsibly and assumed all the blame for it. I can tell the lady meant no harm and nly wanted the best for the chidren.
 
But doesn't antifreeze have a bitter additive to prevent them from drinking?
 
"The owner bought the windshield wiper fluid with several other items on a recent shopping trip, James told The Associated Press. “This product was mistakenly grabbed and thought to be Kool-Aid and put in the refrigerator,” she said."


LOL thats hilarious.

Sucks for the kids of course, but you deserve to be hung by your balls for confusing the two AT A DAY CARE.

Just shows why stupid people should be shot on the spot.
 
When I bag merchandise at Wal-Mart at the register I ALWAYS bag the food separate from everything else. This prevents poisons from seeping into the food, and prevents the food from leaking out and damaging other merchandise.

Now that I think about it, it could be easy to confuse the two IF the cashier/bagger at the store bagged the Anti-Freeze with food items (a no-no) and in a rush to put the groceries up at the daycare, the anti-freeze was placed in the refrigerator and the kool-aid placed in the garage.

While at the store, ask that all the food items be bagged seperate from everything else, and always DOUBLE-CHECK what your'e putting up before you mistake it for food when it could be really poisonous.

Another thing manufacturers could do is make the anti-freeze an obscene ugly color that doesnt confuse it for a blue beverage and put some type of warning on the cap such as STOP: ANTIFREEZE NOT FOR CONSUMPTION! in black boldface letters on a yellow background. It could be enough to make one stop and think about what they're doing.

I know this sounds very much like the McDonald's incident that required a CAUTION: BEVERAGE MAY BE HOT warning on all coffee lids but we have to protect the stupid people from ourselves and prevent them from filing and winning lawsuits because of their stupidity.
 
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