Chest pain, trouble breathing, sudden weakness on one side, a fit or heavy bleeding needs help now, not an appointment.

112Any emergency108Ambulance102Pregnancy and newborn
Check a symptomManage a conditionHealth calculatorsUnderstand a lab reportFirst aid
Poisons, bites and stings

Poisoning or swallowing something harmful

Also called poison, zeher, overdose, swallowed chemical, pesticide

Call 112 or 108 first, then start. Put the phone on speaker so the operator can talk you through every step while your hands stay free.

What you are dealing with

Cleaning fluids, pesticides, kerosene and tablets are the usual culprits, and children find them fast. What you do next matters more than what they swallowed.

Do this, in this order

  1. Call 112 or 108, and the National Poisons Information Centre on 1800 116 117.
  2. Find the bottle, packet or strip and keep it. Take it to the hospital with you.
  3. If they are awake, wipe out the mouth and let them rinse and spit, but do not make them swallow anything.
  4. If a chemical is on the skin, remove the contaminated clothing and rinse the skin with lots of running water.
  5. If it is in an eye, rinse the eye with clean running water for twenty minutes, from the inner corner outward.
  6. If they become unresponsive, put them on their side and check their breathing.

Never do this

  • Never try to make them vomit. Bringing up kerosene, acid or alkali burns the food pipe a second time.
  • Do not give milk, salt water, oil or any home antidote unless a doctor or the poisons centre tells you to.
  • Do not wait for symptoms to appear. Many poisons act quietly for hours.
  • Do not assume a child took only a little. Assume the worst and get them seen.

Call an ambulance if

  • Always call, even if the person looks completely well
Call 112 nowCall 108 ambulance

After the emergency

Get it looked at properly

First aid buys time, it does not finish the job. Most of these situations need a doctor to check what happened, prevent infection, and decide whether anything more is needed.

Consult a doctorCheck a symptom instead

Get care for this

Doctors and care for poisoning or swallowing something harmful

Verified Teleprac doctors you can see online or in a clinic, lab tests with home sample collection, and genuine medicines delivered to your door.

See all first aid topics

Important. This page is general first aid education and cannot replace a hands on first aid course or professional emergency care. Techniques taught by the Indian Red Cross, St John Ambulance and similar bodies are worth a single day of your life. In an emergency, call 112 or 108 first and follow what the operator tells you, because they can see your location and know what is on the way.

Call 112 Ambulance 108

More free tools in the Health Hub

Open Health Hub
Check a symptomSomething feels wrong and you want to know what it could be and who to seeManage a conditionYou live with diabetes, blood pressure, thyroid, asthma or something similarHealth calculatorsYou have a number, such as weight, waist or blood pressure, and want to know what it meansUnderstand a lab reportYou have a lab report with sugar, thyroid, cholesterol or blood counts and want to know what it means

Emergency numbers in India

Save these in your phone now, not when you need them. Tap any number to call it.

112Any emergencyOne number for police, fire and ambulance across India108AmbulanceFree emergency ambulance in most states and union territories102Pregnancy and newbornAmbulance for mothers and babies in most states14416Mental health supportTele MANAS, free counselling every hour of the day, many languages1800 116 117Poisoning or overdoseNational Poisons Information Centre, AIIMS New Delhi1098Child in distressChildline India, free and confidential

Where to read more

Public health sources written for patients rather than for doctors, and kept up to date.

Ministry of Health and Family WelfareOfficial Indian health programmes, advisories and public guidanceWorld Health Organization health topicsGlobal fact sheets written for the public, on hundreds of topicsNHS health A to ZPlain language pages on symptoms, conditions, tests and treatmentsMedlinePlusPatient information from the United States National Library of MedicineTele MANASIndia's national mental health support service, free and available all day

Important: Everything in Teleprac patient resources is general health education. It does not give you a diagnosis and it cannot replace examination by a qualified doctor, because it does not know your age, your reports, your pregnancy or the other medicines you take. Please do not start, stop or change any medicine on your own. Teleprac Healthcare is not liable for decisions made on the basis of this information. In an emergency, call your local emergency number or go to the nearest hospital immediately.