NEW CENTRAL US POISON CONTROL HOTLINE

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New Central Hotline For U.S. Poison Control Centers

By Reuters Health

2/4/2002

URL: <A HREF= " http://www.pctonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=1050/ " >

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WASHINGTON - Americans for the first time can use a single toll-free

telephone number to reach a poison control center anywhere in the nation,

officials announced last week.

Officials launched the national hotline, 800-222-1222, and applauded it as an

overdue coordination of the country's 65 separately run poison centers.

Callers dialing the number will be automatically linked to the closest poison

center.

The nation's first poison center opened in 1953, and subsequent centers have

opened on an independent basis. ``Until now...nationwide poison prevention

education was hindered by the very structure by which poison centers

evolved,'' said Dr. Alan D. Woolf, the president of the American Association

of Poison Control Centers.

``This country's 65 centers had more than 130 individual and separate

telephone numbers,'' he said.

The new number is part of a $21.2 million federal effort to update poison

control centers across the country. Centers field calls on approximately 2.2

million suspected poisonings per year, mostly involving young children. About

75% of all poisonings can be safely handled at home with the help of a poison

center aide, though 700 to 800 calls to centers per year end in fatalities,

Woolf said.

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) said that the new national hotline would ``help

save lives and prevent costly trips to emergency rooms.'' Towns crafted the

House legislation that led to congressional approval of the centers' new

money.

Half of all calls to poison centers involve preschool-age children, though

calls involving adults or elderly persons tend to be more serious. Officials

said that they would accompany their new national phone number with a print

and radio-based education campaign urging children to avoid household poisons

and urging parents to post poison control numbers near their phones.

Household cleaners and chemicals make up the bulk of poisonous substances in

homes, though perfumes, medications, and spider and animal bites can also

lead to poisoning. Members of the public can obtain stickers, magnets, and

other promotional materials by calling the toll-free number, Woolf said.

Meanwhile, about one third of all centers will keep using the decades-old

green ``Mr. Yuck'' symbols to warn children about dangerous poisons in the

home.

``Centers that use Yuck are continuing to use Yuck,'' said Toby Litovitz,

national director of the American Association of Poison Control Centers.