State poison control officials are stepping in to prevent future fatalities from the ingestion of tiki torch oil.

There have been six recent cases in New Jersey where victims unknowingly drank tiki oil thinking it was apple juice. The mistake cost an 84-year-old Burlington County woman her life and caused permanent lung damage for an 8-year-old girl from Bergen County.

Poison control officials are hoping to prevent similar accidents. An alert has been sent to all hospitals in New Jersey on the appropriate treatment for torch oil ingestion.

?The most important thing is if you do ingest it do not vomit,? says Dr. Lee Leak, of Raritan Bay Medical Center. ?[Vomiting] is going to create an aspiration effect and, in turn, that is going to cause permanent lung damage.?

Poison control also advises against drinking water after ingestion as it could worsen the damage.

CDCNJPIES