Just days after Christmas Day last year, 2-Year-Old Brianna Florer died due to a shiny, silver button battery.

Days prior, the family had the perfect Christmas. Briana was laughing and jumping around with her older siblings, opening presents at her grandparents’ home.

Then Brianna became ill for a couple of days. She was throwing up and running a low-grade fever.

Her parents, Brian and Stephanie Florer, who live in rural Delaware County, called the Jay ambulance after Brianna began to throw up blood, and her body turned a blue color.

The ambulance met them at a convenience store to check the little girl’s condition.

After continuing to throw up blood, she was rushed to the Grove Hospital where the physicians quickly diagnosed her problem. She was then taken to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, where she was rushed into surgery.

Unfortunately, the Doctors were unable to stop the bleeding after operating on her for 2.5 hours.

The family later learned that Brianna swallowed a battery within six days of her death.

Brianna’s death is not the only case, in Oklahoma alone, there were 53 reported cases of children and adults swallowing a button or disk battery in 2015. These incidents were thankfully not fatal.

According to the National Capitol Poison Center in Washington, D.C. During the period 2005 to 2014, there were 11,940 battery-swallowing incidents where children under the age of 6 were involved, nationally. Out of these, 15 children died, and another 101 suffered major medical problems.

Where are button batteries commonly found?

• Toys
• watches
• remote controls
• garage door openers
• bathroom scales,
• cameras,
• calculators
• digital thermometers
• hearing aids
• singing greeting cards,
• talking books
• flash and pen lights
• flashing sneakers

Here are a few safety tips regarding batteries

• Do not leave batteries lying around
• Keep spare batteries, and batteries to be recycled, out of sight and reach of young children.
• Make sure that the battery compartment of household devices is secured shut.
• If family members wear hearing aids, explain to them the importance of keeping the batteries out of reach of small children at all times.
• Never put batteries in your mouth for any reason. They are slippery and easily swallowed.