A Day In the Life of a Poison Center
Posted: February 11th, 2010 | Tags: Poison Center, poison specialist, poisoning | 23 Comments »We hope you enjoyed our day in the life of the Poison Center blog-a-thon yesterday. Those 282 cases represent just a single day here at IPC; that translates to over 100,000 people that we help each year in Illinois. Hopefully after reading these sample cases, you’ve learned that the IPC can help with just about any substance out there, and that there is no reason to feel embarrassed or ashamed to call, because we really have heard it all! To view the cases again, click on any/all the following hourly posts:
We showed you a 1-2 sentence summary of the calls, but a lot more goes into each one. Some calls can take 15 minutes each or more. We take the time to get a full history surrounding each exposure, research and assess the situation, inform the caller of the expected effects, and also describe any interventions that may need to be done to ensure the best possible outcome. We’re not just a voice on the phone; we collaborate with other health care professionals (nurses, pharmacists, doctors, EMS) and experts (mycologists, herpetologists) to ensure that every potential poisoning we are involved with is managed with the most up-to-date and best possible toxicology information. We are proud that over 90% of the calls we handle can be resolved at the site of exposure, saving unnecessary medical costs. Last year, the IPC saved Illinois taxpayers over $50 million.
The key element of our success is our poison specialists, who field these calls day after day with concern, respect, and experience. All of our specialists are health care professionals specially trained in toxicology, dedicated to helping anyone who has come into contact with a potentially harmful substance.
They are:
Dr Abrar Baig, PharmD, CSPI
Dr Reggie Brown, MD, CSPI
Tony Burda, Rph, DABAT
Sharon Cook, BS
Amy Deitche, BSN, RN, CSPI
Jerome Dimaano ,RN, CSPI
Briggetta Ducre, RN, CSPI
Tracy Esposito, RN
Helena Fields, BA
Connie Fischbein BS, CSPI
Marco Gonzalez, BA
Babbs Hoard, EMT-P
Karen Hoeller, Rph, CSPI
Cindy Howard, RN, CSPI
Dr Art Kubic, PharmD, CSPI
Dr Jessica Metz, PharmD, CSPI
Dr Erin Pallasch, PharmD, CSPI
Miguel Razo, RN, CSPI
Dr Todd Sigg, PharmD, CSPI
Jessica Sims, BS
Dr Mike Strugala, PharmD
Gennady Vatel, EMT-P
Dr Cheryl Webster, PharmD, CSPI
*CSPI: Certified Specialist in Poison Information
Illinois residents can call the poison center for information or help for free. The IPC is a non-profit organization. Federal and state grants and appropriations provide 60% of our funding, and we depend on these grants as well as private donations from foundations and individuals to cover our costs.
We would love to hear what you thought about our blog-a-thon, please leave a comment below.
Don’t forget to check out the “My Child Ate…” resource center which gives toxicity level and treatment information for the most common substances/products ingested by children.
Until next Tuesday,
Carol
Related posts:
- Welcome to the Illinois Poison Center Blog
- You might say the Illinois Poison Center is the antidote to unnecessary health care costs
Hi. This is Dana Kozlov at CBS 2 News. I’m interested in doing a story on your funding issues. Please contact me.
Dana Kozlov
312-899-2266
Dana,
Thanks so much for the wonderful piece you did on CBS 2 last night (5:30pm and 10:00pm): http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=68544@wbbm.dayport.com&cid=5
Truly appreciate your support. Don’t hesitate to contact us if we can help you in any way.
Vickie
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