Delaware Coalition for Injury Prevention
Poisoning Injury Prevention Team
Team Leader:
Kevin C. Osterhoudt, MD, MS
Member Agencies:
The Poison Control Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Delaware Risk Watch, Safe Kids Delaware.
Key Objective:
The Poison Control Center is a non-profit public health organization, certified by the American Association of Poison Control Centers, with these missions:
- Provision of a free 24-hour daily public poisoning-assistance hotline to guide families in crisis
- Provision of regional toxic epidemic surveillance
- Provision of expert toxicological information to public health, governmental, and public news broadcast agencies
- Dissemination of community poisoning prevention education
- Provision of expert toxicology information and education to health care professionals
- Participation in toxicological research.
Key 2008 Project Name:
At the direction of the legislature, the Division of Public Health enters into an annual contract with The Poison Control Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to provide poison control services to the citizens of Delaware.
Brief Project Description:
The Poison Control Center provides poisoning prevention outreach to the community and also offers a schedule of professional continuing medical education topics. The Federal Institute of Medicine has reported that poisoning is the 2nd leading cause of injury-related death within the United States, and that poison control services are cost-effective by saving $7 for each $1 invested. The Poison Control Center promotes the use of the national Poison Help Hotline number, 1-800-222-1222, which provides a toll-free connection to the appropriate regional poison control center when dialed from Delaware or anywhere within the United States.
Project Outcome:
Educational materials were provided to agencies in Delaware through various venues. The phone hotline assistance was provided to families in Delaware with concerns related to potential or actual poisoning episodes. In 2007, the Poison Control Center received 8,393 calls from Delaware and was able to manage 60% of human exposures at home without burdening the state’s other emergency medical systems.
When advanced medical care was needed, the clinical toxicologists at the Center provided over 1,700 consultations to Delaware health care providers. The top five toxicants involved in these consultations were: analgesic drugs, sedative-hypnotic drugs, antidepressant drugs, cardiovascular drugs, and cleaning agents. In 2007 the Center also played a critical role in identifying and monitoring a regional fentanyl-tainted heroin epidemic, and in responding to public concerns regarding the highly publicized lead contamination of toys.
