Don't eat batteries

Coin cells look a little like shiny candy.

But take care because a swallowed battery doesn't just pass through. Lithium is very reactive chemically and it will burn a person's insides. And even though a coin cell starts sealed, it will quickly fall apart in stomach acid especially if it gets even a single chew before going down the throat.

Obviously, this is more dangerous for children than for adults. Consumer reports put out a great video a few years ago driving this home.

So what can we do to protect our children from this? Treat batteries like medicine. Keep them in a place that is hard for children to get to. And watch out for places where lithium batteries are used that are easy to open.

Although lithium batteries are the greatest threat, swallowing silver oxide or alkaline button cells should be cause for an immediate doctor call. Swallowing a lithium battery is cause for an immediate trip to the emergency room.

Although there haven't been as many people killed by batteries as have been struck by lightning, a number of battery ingestion incidents could have been prevented. It just takes some knowledge of what a swallowed battery can do sometimes and a willingness to do something about it.