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Illinois Poison Center Fact Sheet
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Facts and Figures
· The Illinois Poison Center (IPC) provides free, 24-hour confidential poison prevention and treatment recommendations to the general public and health care providers via a toll-free hotline, 1-800-222-1222. Specially trained physicians, nurses and pharmacists who are experts in poison treatment and prevention advice staff the hotline.
· In 2007, the IPC handled 104,881 calls. Of those, 87,841 calls were for advice on treating someone exposed to a poison; 17,088 calls were for poison information.
· Approximately 51 percent of poisoning exposure calls handled by the IPC last year involved children age 5 and under.
· Medical professionals throughout Illinois turn to the IPC for specialized consultation services in the management of poisoned patients. In fact, health care professionals called the IPC on 16,170 poisoning cases in 2007 alone; they account for approximately 19 percent of all exposure calls to the IPC.
· IPC experts managed 90 percent of poison exposure calls from the general public at the site of exposure without referral to a health care facility by providing simple first aid instructions over the phone.
· By offering such expert advice and treatment recommendations via its hotline, the IPC helps people avoid an unnecessary and costly visit to the emergency department or physician’s office. In fact, it is estimated the IPC helped save an estimated $29 million in unnecessary medical costs in 2007.
· More than 29 percent of human exposures to poison are from household cleaners, pain medicines and cosmetics/personal care products – making these items some of the most common sources of poisonings.
Education and Outreach Efforts
· The IPC serves the largest population of all poison centers in the nation, covering all 102 counties in Illinois with a total estimated population of nearly 12.7 million.
· The IPC reaches these counties through its innovative satellite education network. Launched in 2001, the program allows the IPC to partner with hospitals throughout the state to provide poison prevention and education. Currently, the program includes 12 satellite education centers.
· An online educator training program and resource center enables community members to learn about poison prevention, and use the information to educate others in their community. The free Web-based course provides training on poison prevention education and the online password-protected resource center allows registered allows registered poison prevention educators to download educational materials, order materials online and report on their outreach events at www.IllinoisPoisonCenter.org/outreach.
· The IPC has one of the largest and most successful health professions toxicology training programs in the nation. Approximately 160 pharmacy students, medical students, emergency medicine residents and emergency medicine pediatric fellows received toxicology training through the IPC in 2007.
· The IPC coordinates many continuing education courses for health professionals including Advanced Hazmat Life Support courses, bioterrorism programs and state-of-the-art toxicology lectures.
Administration
· The IPC staff receives on-site supervision, education and training from the IPC medical directors, who also are board certified, practicing emergency medicine physicians and medical toxicologists.
· The IPC Web site, www.IllinoisPoisonCenter.org, features poison prevention information and interactive learning games for children.
· The IPC is a non-profit organization, supported by federal, state, local and private foundation grants and individual donors.
· The IPC became a program of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council in 1997.
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Last updated: January 2008
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© 2008 Illinois Poison Center, a program of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council |