March into Illinois Poison Prevention Month with the right tools

March is fast approaching and that means it’s time to gear up for Illinois Poison Prevention Month (IPPM) and National Poison Prevention Week (NPPW) March 16-22. In 2007, the Illinois Poison Center hot line handled more than 104,881 total calls; 84 percent of which came from the public and health care professionals regarding exposures to household chemicals, herbal products, food poisoning, medication errors and more. Local communities throughout the state benefit from the continuing poison safety and prevention education that you provide. With your help along with the assistance of 2,800 other educators, that message has expanded to cover nearly every corner of the state. The Illinois Poison Center encourages you to keep building on your outstanding outreach efforts. Use the following guide for activities to help promote poison safety during IPPM/NPPW as well as throughout 2008:

Partner with Other Organizations:

Participate in the story time outreach program by partnering with public libraries, schools and daycare centers. This connection will help you educate children and their parents about poison safety through reading activities. Download the “Story Time Tool Kit” including a guide based upon the book Five Little Monkeys with Nothing to Do, educational games and craft ideas from the IPC’s Education Resource Center at: http://www.IllinoisPoisonCenter.org/outreach

Contact local community organizations, especially those that have health and safety as part of their mission, and offer to conduct a presentation about poison safety. Or you can simply share poison prevention materials with these groups so they can distribute the information to their communities.

Coordinate and/or attend events such as health fairs, school assemblies, parent-teacher conferences, community group meetings, church socials and corporate functions.

Promote National Poison Prevention Week and IL Poison Prevention Month within Your Organization:

Post poison prevention information (brochures, magnets, stickers) in the hallways, bathrooms and kiosks at your workplace.

Work with the human resources department to include an IPC sticker which displays the toll-free number in payroll envelopes during National Poison Prevention Week. Post a link on your organization’s website to the Illinois Poison Center ’s website: www.IllinoisPoisonCenter.org

Place the following message at the end of every e-mail you send during IPPM/NPPW:

It’s Illinois Poison Prevention Month or National Poison Prevention Week! Remember to put all potential poisons up high and out of children’s sight and reach. If you have any questions call the Illinois Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222.

Promote the free online Poison Prevention Educator Training Course and educational materials by sending an e-mail to all of your contacts with this link: www.IllinoisPoisonCenter.org/outreach.

The Illinois Poison Center values your involvement and relies on its community partners and educators to help spread the message of poison safety during IPPM/NPPW.   We’d love to receive feedback and pictures of your poison prevention activities! 

Please email Vickie Dance: vdance@ilpoison.org

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