Need help right now?
If someone needs immediate help with button battery, use emergency mode.
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DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Someone swallowed a small coin-shaped battery from a toy, remote, or watch. It can burn through tissue within hours.
The essentials if you need to act right now.
Call 112 now. Do NOT vomit. Go to hospital immediately for X-ray.
What might I see? Observable signs — no diagnosis required.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Child found with open toy or remote; missing battery.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Drooling, refusing food, gagging, wheezing, or chest discomfort.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Assume ingestion if battery is missing and child was unattended.
Optional deeper explanation — not required to act.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — A lodged button battery creates an electrical current that burns the esophagus within 2 hours.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Child may have no symptoms at first — delay is dangerous.
Check the scene before you approach.
Civilian-safe actions you can take.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Call 112 or 108. Say button battery ingestion — need emergency X-ray.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Do not wait for symptoms.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Keep nil by mouth unless emergency team advises honey (age-appropriate) while en route — follow local protocol on call.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Transport to nearest hospital with pediatric or surgical capability.
When and how to get professional help.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Identify what was taken, call Poison Control and emergency services, and follow their instructions. Do not guess treatments.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Call 112. Say: "Button battery swallowed. Need urgent removal and X-ray."
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Tell child age, time swallowed, and battery type if known.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Emergency endoscopic removal is time-critical — within hours, not days.
Dangerous actions, when not to attempt rescue, and common myths.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — NEVER induce vomiting — battery can lodge in airway.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Do NOT assume it will pass naturally — burns start immediately.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — A swallowed button battery will pass safely like a coin
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Batteries burn tissue electrically. Coins do not. Every battery ingestion needs urgent X-ray.
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — Esophageal perforation within hours.
Other scenarios in the same family.
Child swallowed poison
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — A child has swallowed household cleaner, medicine, plants, or another toxic substance. Small amounts can be serious in children.
Alcohol poisoning
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — A person who drank heavily is unconscious, vomiting, breathing slowly, or cannot be woken — beyond normal drunkenness.
Adult swallowed poison
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — An adult has swallowed an unknown or known toxic substance — household chemical, medicine, or other poison.
Carbon monoxide
DEVELOPMENT FIXTURE — People in a closed room with heater, generator, or car exhaust feel headache, nausea, or confusion — carbon monoxide is odorless.