How can CHOP's Poison Control Center help me?
Learn more about the services and resources at the Poison Control Center, including what happens when you call.
Today's guest blogger is Michelle Swartz, RN, BSN, CSPI, a certified poison information specialist at The Poison Control Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Your child eats diaper cream. Your elderly parent takes his morning medications – again. You absent-mindedly take the dog's pill. Instinctively, you call the doctor who tells you to call…POISON CONTROL?!
After a brief moment of panic, as if you weren't already distraught enough, you pick up the phone and call 1-800-222-1222 as directed by your doctor. You are greeted by a calming voice on the other end that listens patiently as you explain what has happened. A few questions, maybe a calculation or two, and the specialist provides instructions on how to manage your particular situation. And you'll even call back to find out how the patient is doing. You can now breathe a sigh of relief.
This scenario happens thousands of times a day, every day, all across the country, in more than 50 centers in the United States. There were nearly 64,000 human exposure calls to the Poison Control Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 2014 alone.
When one calls a Poison Control Center, the specialist answering the phone is NOT just a phone operator. We are medical professionals. Registered nurses and pharmacists that have undergone extensive training in managing these situations. We not only provide assistance to the general public, but to healthcare providers caring for a "poisoned patient" in the healthcare setting as well.
The role of Poison Control Centers does not stop there. We are active in the roles of public and professional education, poison prevention, data surveillance, and many others. For example, our website has an downloadable activity booklet for kids that teaches them how to avoid accidental poisoning, a home safety checklist, a list of potential poisons in the home and outdoors, and warnings of when we see a jump in certain calls such as e-cigarette refill fluid.
Perhaps one of the most important things to remember is: We are you. We are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles. Some of us have even needed to make that call ourselves. We know that accidents happen. That's why we are here. So next time you have a possible exposure, please don't hesitate to call us.
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