Traveling With Medications: Tips for Ensuring Safety During Holiday Visits

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Health experts are providing tips to travelers and sending out a reminder for them to think about medicine before leaving home to reduce the chances of a medication error or someone else accessing medications.

According to the Oklahoma Poison Center, it is important to keep medicine in its original prescription container when traveling. Each container (or package) is labeled with the medicine’s name, dosage, and directions on when and how to take it.

“If you have a reaction to a new medication, or accidentally take your medication twice, having this information available is important when calling the Poison Helpline,” said Kristie Edelen, managing director of the Oklahoma Poison Center. “Additionally, it can be disastrous to find a child playing with a pill organizer, with grandma’s medication spilled out on the floor, and unsure what the child has ingested.”

Health officials said when visiting elsewhere during the holiday, to ask the host for a safe place to store medication and to store the medicine or marijuana products in child-resistant containers.

f you have kids or not, bags, purses, or luggage with medication inside, keep it out of reach.

Medication Safety Travel Tips:

• Know where your medicine is at all times and store it in a secure location once you reach your destination.
• Do not combine different medicines into one container. Combining different medicines increases the chance of a mix-up, especially since your normal routine is switched up while traveling.
• Be prepared with an extra supply of medicine. Take several days’ worth of medicine in the event you cannot return home as scheduled.
• Keep your medicine stored at the appropriate temperature. Temperatures that are too high or too low may affect the medicine so it will not work properly. Be prepared when traveling by bringing warm or cold packs if needed. Never store your medicine in the glove compartment or trunk of your car.
• Call the Oklahoma Poison Center with any questions or concerns regarding potential hazards that arise during the holidays, and do not forget to save the poison center’s phone number, (800) 222-1222, in your phone.

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