Is there an important difference in the first aid treatment?

KB answered:
The main difference in first aid treatment for corrosive and non-corrosive poison ingestion is whether or not to induce vomiting. With a non-corrosive, you will want to induce vomiting. With corrosive, you DO NOT want to induce vomiting.

For corrosive poison ingestion, you will want to give the victim water and/or milk and seek immediate emergency medical care. The milk and/or water (especially milk) will help in neutralizing the acid. If vomiting is induced, it raises the risk of damage being done to to the esophagus.

For non-corrosive poison ingestion, you can induce vomiting for the victim. You will want to induce the vomiting with Ipecac Syrup and water. If no Ipecac is available, give victim a lot of water and induce vomiting by placing a flat object (such as the end of a spoon) at the back of the victim's throat. You will also want to seek emergency medical care for this type of poisoning as well.

In both types of poison ingestion, you will need to keep (if possible) the contained that the poison was in. This will help the emergency medical personnel a lot of help in treating the victim.

Some symptoms of poisoning include: unusual smells/stains on clothing, unusual breath odor, sudden drowsiness, stomach pains, lethargy, profuse sweating, discoloration of skin, drooling, loss of ability to control bodily functions, and irritability or any other drastic mood change. Signs of severe poisoning include: fever, intense thirst, increased rate of breathing and/or heart rate, convulsions or other uncontrollable muscle twitches, pinpoint pupils, and unconsciousness.

In all poisoning situations, you first want to CALL 911, contact Poison Control, and initiate treatment until emergency medical personnel arrives.