Welcome to the American Association of Poison Control Centers blog! Please visit often to see what’s happening in the poison prevention world. We hope you find the information useful and interesting.
The purpose of this blog is to provide some insight about the important work of the nation’s 57 poison control centers. We will talk about current poison issues, such as bath salts and button batteries, as well as ways you can keep your family safe from poisonings. We’ll also give you a taste of the types of calls poison centers receive.
America’s poison control centers are pretty amazing. They provide free, expert, confidential advice by phone to anyone in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, The Federated States of Micronesia, American Samoa, and Guam. They’ve even served American soldiers serving overseas. And they do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
You can reach your local poison center by calling 1-800-222-1222. Be assured that the people who take your call know what they are talking about; they are doctors, pharmacists, nurses and poison information experts who specialize in poisons and toxic substances.
Most callers with a poison emergency get help over the phone and don’t need to go to a hospital or doctor. In fact, more than 70 percent of calls about a potential poisoning are managed over the phone. Poison centers help reduce costly emergency room visits and lighten the load on an overtaxed health-care system.
Most of the remaining 30 percent of potential poisoning calls each year are from health-care facilities. When doctors and nurses need help treating poisonings, they call the experts at their poison center.
Poison centers also help teach the public about poison prevention and the dangers of poisons. Recently, they were the first to raise the alarm about the dangers of toxic substances marketed as bath salts. Plus, you don’t have to have an emergency to call your poison center; you can call 1-800-222-1222 to get information about poisons or poison safety.
So, as you see, the experts at your poison centers are busy folks! With all they do every day to safeguard the health and safety of our families, friends, and neighbors, I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about!
To read our latest blog post, click on this month in the Archives at the left.
Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!
(To learn more about the AAPCC, click on the ABOUT link at the top of the page.)
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