A day-care operator in Scott voluntarily shuttered her business Friday after mistaking bright blue windshield-wiper fluid for a sugary drink and serving it to 10 children.
State records show that Carolyn Bynum, 63, holds the license to the day care in a house at 1264 Kesl Road.
"She's closing the day care, surrendering her license, whatever you want to call it," state Department of Human Services spokesman Julie Munsell said. "She has been very upset by what happened. She has no intention to keep operating."
A worker at the day care went shopping Thursday, and Bynum unloaded the groceries, placing a bottle of the cleaner in the refrigerator, Munsell said. Bynum poured the children their blue drinks and learned that something was wrong only when one child complained about the taste, Munsell said.
The 10 children, ages 2-6, arrived late Thursday afternoon at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock in a private vehicle, not an ambulance, hospital officials said. Nine had been released by about midnight, and one was kept for observation in good condition after tests showed a certain level of an industrial alcohol called methanol, said Dr. Laura James, a pediatric pharmacologist and toxicologist at the hospital.
"They're all doing fine at this point," James said.
Munsell said the poisoning appeared to be accidental.
"I know most people will be out there saying how on earth can you mistake windshieldwiper fluid for Kool-Aid, but what Carolyn Bynum is claiming is that you can, and she did," Munsell said.
The Human Services Department on Friday continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Bynum did not respond to a phone message requesting an interview. No one answered the door at her home, though a woman peeked through a window, and a beige Ford Explorer was parked in the driveway.
Asked for more specifics about the nature of the poisoning and its effects on the children, James said the hospital's publicrelations staff advised against answering such questions.
There was no indication that the children were poisoned intentionally, James said.
"This appears to have just been a mistake that an adult made," she said.
The child who was admitted remained at the hospital late Friday afternoon.
A federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention description of methanol, an alcohol derived from wood, says it can cause vomiting, lethargy, blindness and coma in some cases. Some effects are similar to those of ethylene glycol, the synthetic active ingredient in many de-icing and antifreeze products.
James estimated that each child ingested no more than about an ounce of the wiper liquid.
Bynum first got her license in 2002, Munsell said. It restricts the number of children that can stay at the day care full time to 10.
Hospital officials told Human Services Department officials that two additional children were present at the time Bynum served the drinks but were not taken to the hospital, meaning that 12 children total were in Bynum's home, Munsell said. The extra children could be a violation depending on their ages and why they were there, Munsell said.
"We don't have all the answers we need just yet," Munsell said.
Department of Human Services records showed no upheld complaints against Bynum, Munsell said, "and in the last few monitoring visits, we found no serious issues there."
Munsell said she did not know whether Bynum carried liability insurance, something not required - nor even mentioned - in the child-care licensing regulations published by the Department of Human Services Child Care and Early Childhood Education Division.
A profile of Bynum's business filed with the Human Services Department indicated that she accepted children up to age 13 between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. She charged as little as $2 per day for less than three hours of care for schoolage children and as much as $13 per day for others.
Her small brick house is a short distance from Arkansas 165, set back from a narrow gravel road in a residential neighborhood. A lilac-colored wind chime, shaped like a butterfly and stamped with the word "hope" hung Friday from an awning near the front door. The front yard and a fenced-in side yard were packed with child-size chairs and toys, including a green plastic tractor, a red wagon and castle-themed play set.
The day care served children of Bynum's friends and neighbors as well as a few others, Munsell said. None of the children were related to Bynum, she said.
"We spoke to one of the parents today who was over at the house, and she was very supportive of Ms. Bynum," Munsell said. "I don't know if she speaks for all of the other parents, but she was just devastated for her friend."
Bynum reported the incident to the state's child-abuse hot line, as the law required, Munsell said.
The Lonoke County sheriff's office assigned an investigator to the case, Lt. Jim Kulesa wrote in an e-mail.
"Although there does not appear to be any criminal intent to harm these children," he wrote, "any incident where a child is injured or hurt, it will be investigated."
By giving up her license, Munsell said, Bynum is unable to simply reopen the day care in the future.
"Everything would have to start from scratch all over again," Munsell said.
Subject: Wiper-fluid mistake closes Scott day care 
Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:48 pm
