St. Louis Children's offers free lock boxes to prevent medication overdoses

St. Louis Children's Hospital is aiming to prevent accidental child overdoses by offering families free lock boxes to safely store medications in their homes.

As part of a pilot program, the hospital will distribute 1,000 lock boxes to families visiting the emergency department with a child who has accidentally ingested medication. Families of patients experiencing suicidal ideation or other behavioral health crises will also receive lock boxes to reduce the risk of self-harm. 

Each lock box is designed to securely hold multiple medications — or a small firearm — and can only be accessed with a key, according to a Sept. 10 news release. 

The program builds on a similar initiative the hospital launched in 2020, offering families free gun locks to prevent firearm-related injuries. That effort has since been expanded to more than 20 locations across BJC HealthCare, the hospital's parent system. 

The new pilot program comes as Missouri faces a sharp rise in child poisoning deaths, with the state reporting 62 fatalities in 2022, up from 11 in 2019.

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