Interactive Introduction to the Oregon Poison Center
Welcome to the Oregon Poison Center. This outline will guide you through useful
toxicology information found on three websites:
Oregon Poison Center
American Association of Poison Control Centers
HRSA Poison Help
Extra Reading:
Lewin Report on Importance of Poison Centers
NCHS Drug Poisoning Deaths U.S. 1980-2008
The following links are accessible on the internet. Please share this information!
Your first website is: Oregon Poison Center website: www.oregonpoison.org
This is our agency’s own website. It provides general info about poison safety for the
general public, and health care providers.
In the column on the upper left, click on About Us
Who We Are, and What We Do: General overview of the poison center.
Questions
When was the Oregon Poison Center
established
How many calls a year are handled by the
Oregon Poison Center
Answers
1978
60,000 a year
Click on Annual Reports
How many pediatric cases were reported to
the Oregon Poison Center in 2012
What are the most frequent human
exposures
23,200
See figure 5—analgesics,
cosmetics/personal care, household
cleaners, sedative/hypnotics,
antidepressants, foreign bodies,
cardiovascular drugs, antihistamines,
alcohols.
In the column on the left, click on You and Your Family
Go to ‘Seasonal Hazards.
Pick one seasonal hazard about which you
Power Outage/Food Safety; Summer
can inform, prevent and/or treat
Hazards: Autumn Hazards; Winter
Hazards; Spring Hazards; Holiday Hazards
(pick one item of interest to you from one
category)
In the column on the left, click on Healthcare Professionals
Questions
What categories of students receive
training at the Oregon Poison Center
How many toxicology patients were
managed in health care facilities in 2012,
with Oregon Poison Center assistance
Answers
Emergency medicine residents as well as
medical, nursing, paramedic and pharmacy
students obtain onsite training here at the
poison center.
11,710
Under ‘Professional Education’, click on “educational resource web links’
Name one healthcare web link of interest to AAPCC, hygiene, antidrug, animal poison,
you.
CDC, product safety, children’s health,
children’s EMS, EPA, FDA, inhalant
prevention, NIH, NIDA, safe kids, drugfree, poison prevention, USDA,…
In the column on the left, click on Educators
Read the paragraph under Professional
Education. How does this apply to your
experience in the Oregon Poison Center
call room?
After you have opened ‘Educators’, in the left-hand column click on ‘Download Our
Handouts and Brochures
Name one handout you can use to teach
someone about poison prevention.
Poison Center, look-alike pills, poison
checklist, house, Mr yuk, lesson plans,
activities, hazards, caregivers
On the lower right of this same page, the poison brochure is available in different
languages.
Name one that you’ve examined.
English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, French,
Haitian-Creole, Hmong, or Korean
News & Events
Questions
List one news item or event of special
interest to you.
Answers
Guam Poison Center
Click on ‘Guam Poison Center’ for info specifically about poison calls to Guam. There is
an attachment about a particular kind of snake.
Name that snake. Do you need to worry
about it in Oregon?
No worries. Brown tree snakes do not live
in Oregon
Alaska Poison Center
On reading the Alaska Annual Report, do
you see any significant differences
compared with the Oregon Annual Report?
Discuss similarities and differences
between Alaska and Oregon.
Your second website is the national poison center 1-800-222-1222 website, HRSA
Poison Help: http://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/
Poison Info
What is a poison?
Who is at risk?
A poison is anything that can harm
someone if it is 1) used in the wrong way,
2) used by the wrong person, or 3) used in
the wrong amount
Anyone, regardless of their age, race,
ethnicity, or career, can be poisoned.
Resources: Helpful resources for the public, researchers, educators, health care
providers, and prevention programs.
List one resource that you will use.
Programs, materials, videos, audio,
ringtone, external links.
What Can You Do?
Questions
Name one thing you learned to treat or
prevent poisoning.
Answers
In an emergency; first aid; be prepared;
prevent poisonings.
Ask poison center staff for some stickers
with the poison center phone number.
We have stickers, magnets, pamphlets and
other information available.
Poison Centers
On the U.S. map, left-click on AK—who is
the Alaska Poison Center?
Click on OR—What is the address of the
Oregon Poison Center?
Click on the ‘GU’ box to the right of the
map for Guam. Who is the Guam PC?
The Oregon Poison Center
3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Rd.,
Portland, OR 97239
The Oregon Poison Center
The Poison Help Line
What is the number to your local poison
center?
If someone doesn’t speak English, how
many translators are available?
1-800-222-1222
Translation is available in 161 languages.
FAQs
List one of the following that you found
helpful.
First Steps in a Poisoning Emergency
Calling Poison Help—Go through the
FAQ’s here to get a good sense of what is
involved in making a call to the Poison
Center. General Questions on Poisons
Carbon Monoxide
Household and Chemical Products
Medicine
Pesticides/Pest Killers
Animals, Bites and Stings
Plants
School/Art Supplies
Food Poisoning
Your third website is:
American Association of Poison Control Centers: http://www.aapcc.org/
Questions
How many poison centers serve the U.S.?
What is your local poison center’s phone
number?
Answers
56
1-800-222-1222
Click on the ‘Alerts’ icon
Name one alert you found on the AAPCC
Alerts page you found interesting.
Bath Salts, Carbon Monoxide, Cinnamon
Challenge, Energy Drinks, Laundry
Detergent Packets, Storm Safety, Synthetic
Marijuana.
Click on the ‘Prevention’ Icon
Categories: Adults; Babysitters; Children; Health Care Providers; In the Home
Go to Health Care Providers
How often does a health care professional
consult a poison center?
Every 90 seconds
How does HIPAA influence your use of
poison centers?
Poison centers fall under “covered entities”
in the HIPAA Privacy Rule regulations. (45
CFR 164.501, 506(c)). Calls and patient
information are kept confidential, and
poison centers are held to the same HIPAA
requirements by which other health care
providers abide.
Click on the ‘National Poison Data System’ icon
How many calls do poison center receive
each day?
10,830
Click on ‘Current National Report’ - This provides national poison statistics.
Questions
Answers
What kinds of calls decreased in 2011?
Total encounters (all exposure and
information calls) decreased by 8.3%;
All information calls decreased 17.9%,
Drug ID calls decreased 24.1%, and human
exposures decreased 2.2%;
Health care facility (HCF) information calls
decreased 2.9%
Human exposures with less serious
outcomes decreased 3.4%
What kinds of calls increased in 2011?
Health care facility (HCF) exposures
increased 4.8%
Human exposures with more serious
outcomes (minor, moderate, major or death)
increased 6.8%
Go to ‘Press Releases’ on the lower left of the web page, click ‘View More’ to see a list.
Go to October 16, 2012 Poison Centers Save More Than $1.8 Billion Every Year
How much does it cost to fund poison
centers?
43 cents per U.S. resident per year.
Go to ‘Find Your Local Poison Center’ on the lower right of the web page.
Click on Alaska. Where is their poison
Oregon
center?
Scroll down past Wyoming to find the local The Oregon PC.
poison center for Guam. Who is it?
Extra reading (if you are interested):
Read the Lewin Group Final Report on the Value of the Poison Control System at
https://aapcc.s3.amazonaws.com/files/library/Value_of_the_Poison_Center_System_FIN
AL_9_26_2012_--_FINAL_FINAL_FINAL.pdf
What is the conclusion the Lewin Group reached about poison centers?
Executive Summary
The Lewin Group was commissioned by the American Association of Poison Control Centers
(AAPCC) to analyze the existing literature regarding the impact of the poison center system on
medical utilization and to quantify the value of the system as a whole. The influential role poison
centers play in the US health system has largely gone unrecognized although poison centers
provide value in a number of areas including direct consultation to the public and health care
providers (both human and veterinary); law enforcement; product manufacturers; insurers; and
local, state, and federal governments. In addition, poison centers provide real-time surveillance
data allowing for the identification and tracking of public health and environmental threats.
Additional poison center contributions include community educational outreach for poison
prevention and safety, toxicology training to health care professionals, community monitoring
and surveillance, assistance with emergency preparedness and response, and providing the
public information about current events of toxicological significance (e.g., the Gulf oil spill, bath
salts, and button batteries).
Drug Poisoning Deaths in the United States, 1980–2008
National Center for Health Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db81.htm
Questions
What is the leading cause of death from
injuries in the United States?
What is the leading cause of death from
injuries in Oregon?
What percentage of deaths in 2008
involved opioid analgesics?
Answers
Poisoning is now the leading cause of death
from injuries in the United States and
nearly 9 out of 10 poisoning deaths are
caused by drugs.
Poison
More than 40%
THE END
We hope you enjoyed learning about the Oregon Poison Center. Please share this
information!