The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) is warning families to keep button batteries well out of reach of children, following the death of a Queensland girl who swallowed one.

Button batteries are commonly found in household items including remote controls, watches, calculators, toys, games and greeting cards.

If a button battery becomes lodged in the body, it can emit current resulting in burns, hemorrhage and life threatening injury.

RCH Director of General Surgery, Dr Joe Crameri, said a button battery stuck in a child’s oesophagus was a surgical emergency.

“We take the child straight to theatre because we know that within hours they can get a significant burn, so we want to take it out,” Joe said.

He said in serious cases the child may require feeding and breathing tubes after surgery. 

Barbara Minuzzo from the RCH Safety Centre says a good rule of thumb is to ensure any item that fits inside a film canister is kept out of reach of children.  She says toys are common culprits.

“Avoid selecting toys that have small parts as it is likely that at some stage they will find their way into the mouth of a young child where it can easily be inhaled and cause choking,” Barbara said.

For more information on the dangers of button battery ingestion, see the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit’s publication Hazard, edition 75.

Also view the RCH Safety Centre’s Choking and suffocation fact sheet and Toy safety fact sheet.