Storing Medications Safely

Proper storage of medication is important to prevent accidental poisonings and misuse. The following recommendations can assist you in safe medication management for your loved one.

1. Keep medications out reach of children or anyone who might misuse them.

2. Check to see which medications need refrigeration. Make sure they are stored where they will not freeze and where children cannot easily reach them.

3. Store medications away from light and heat, which can effect their chemical composition.

4. Make sure the person taking the medication can read the label clearly.

5. Keep medications in the same place in the medicine cabinet or storage area.

6. Make a schedule for the person taking the medication so that it becomes routine.

7. Dispose of a medication if it has no label, if the label cannot be read clearly, or if the medicine is outdated.

8. Be sure that medications that look like water or soft drinks are labeled so that no one else drinks them.

9. Keep an available list of important telephone numbers of family members, the poison control center, the rescue squad, and the family doctor.

10. Take care of how you dispose of unused or outdated medications in the presence of children and the elderly.