DES MOINES, IA -- A 1-year-old girl ingested rat poison at a fitness club child care center in Des Moines, IA.
The container of poison was under or behind a piece of play equipment at the Aspen Athletic Club in a place where club staff did not think a child could reach, local police told the Des Moines Register. The girl was in the child care center while her father worked out at the club Tuesday night.
The girl was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was recovering on Wednesday. Police continued to investigate the incident.
Shana Michael, the vice president of operations with Aspen Athletic Club, says the girl’s father was told his daughter had been exposed to the poison while he was still at the club, according to the newspaper report. He filled out and signed an incident form at the club and was told he should take his daughter to a poison-control center or a hospital, Michael told the newspaper.
A supervisor with the child care center made a follow-up call to the girl’s father a half-hour later. He told the club his daughter would be fine, even though he had noticed “blue stuff” on her clothes and around her mouth when he had picked her up, residue that he thought was from a blue crayon or marker. Ten minutes later, the girl began vomiting, and she was taken to the hospital.