Poison Control

Poison information is a specialized area of medication information with the practitioner typically practicing in an accredited poison information center or an emergency room. Similar to the mission of traditional drug information centers, poison information centers exist to provide accurate and timely information to enhance the quality of care of patients. There are, however, several differences between a traditional drug information center and poison control center. Health professionals generate most consultations received in drug information centers, whereas, in a poison control center, most are generated from the public. Poison information centers must be prepared to provide information on the management of any poison situation, including household products, poisonous plants and animals, medications, and other chemicals. Because of the type of information that the specialist provides, nearly all requests for information to a poison control center are urgent, with an average response time of 5-minutes, compared to anywhere from 30 minutes to days for drug information centers depending on the urgency of the call and complexity of information required. A specialist in poison information therefore requires expertise in clinical toxicology, as well as an ability to obtain a complete history that correctly assesses the potential severity of exposure, an understanding of where to search for this type of information, and the ability to communicate the information and plan in a comprehensive, concise, and accurate manner to consumers with varied levels of education. Because of the unique expertise of this type of specialist, a national certification examination is offered through the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC, http://www.aapcc.org/). In addition to a poison control center providing information regarding individual patients, centers in the United States also contribute data to a larger program through the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System (TESS), which is coordinated by the AAPCC. These data can be used to compare safety profiles for similar products, to develop risk assessment guidelines for specific substances, to target national prevention programs, and to conduct postmarketing surveillance on products (e.g., chemicals).

Despite the impact that regional poison control centers have on reducing morbidity and mortality with poison exposures, they are also facing increasing emphasis on economic justification. One study used decision analysis to compare the cost-effectiveness of treatment of poison exposures with the services of a regional poison control center to treatment without access to any poison control center. The average cost per patient treated with the services of a poison control center was almost half of that achieved without services of a poison control center. These results were consistent regardless of exposure type, average inpatient and emergency department costs, and clinical outcome probabilities.