4-year-old dies after swallowing button-sized lithium battery

A four-year-old girl has died from internal bleeding after swallowing a button-sized lithium battery.
The child, from Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, was rushed to her local hospital around8am Sunday morning with symptoms of stomach bleeding.
Medical staff immediately airlifted the child who was in a critical condition to the Royal Brisbane Hospital where she could receive specialist treatment.
But despite the best efforts of doctors, the toddler died later that afternoon.

Tragedy: The four-year-old girl from Tewantin was rushed to nearby Noosa Hospital on the Sunshine Coast after swallowing the battery but later died from stomach bleeding

Susan Teerds from Kidsafe Queensland warned that parents must be vigilant in keeping the button-shaped batteries, which are found in many common household items, out of the reach of children. 

She told ABC radio: 'When a child swallows a battery it often gets caught in the oesophagus, around the voice box. Once it's been lodged, within an hour, it will start to burn a hole.

Potentially lethal: Button-sized lithium batteries are found in many common household items such as remote controls and thermometers

'The saliva actually starts a chemical reaction and burns a hole through the oesophagus and can keep burning a hole into the aorta, through to the spine and whatever else is there.'

Kidsafe Queensland estimates that four children are taken to emergency departments across Australia with button battery-related injuries every week.

Kidsafe has launched a Battery Controlled Campaign to try and make parents aware of the dangers of lithium batteries. 

If a child swallows a button battery, it can get stuck in the child's throat and burn through the oesophagus in as little as two hours. 

Repairing the damage can require feeding and breathing tubes and multiple surgeries.

If the battery is swallowed completely, it will leak in the stomach, causing internal bleeding.

Lithium batteries are common in toys, remotes and thermometers.