Child pricked by used needle in Charlottetown park, police say

An eight-year-oldchild was pricked by a needle while playing in the Hillsborough Square parkin Charlottetown, city police say.

The child found a used needlelast Wednesday,picked it up and whiletrying toput a cap on the needle, endedup pricking themselves, Sgt. David Pound said.

The parents took the child to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and later told police they were fine, Pound said.

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"We would urge all parents to have these conversations with their families, making their children aware of the dangers of needles if found in public places," he said.

"Unfortunately, we do receive calls on a fairly frequent basis of needles being found in public places, either on the street, on sidewalks, sometimes in parks. Fortunately, this is not very often that we do encounter a call where someone has been hurt because of them."

Police said people who find a needle shouldn'ttouch it, even if there is a cap or stop on it.

Charlottetown residents should call city police or the public works department,who can collect and dispose of the needle, Pound said.