Washington Poison Center launches 2019 Hospital Fair Share program

October 24, 2018

The Washington Poison Center will soon launch its 2019 Hospital Fair Share program, requesting individual hospitals and health care systems in Washington State make an annual community benefit investment, which helps fund continued access to emergency poison control services for their institutions. In addition to emergency telephone helpline services, this donation helps fund poison prevention activities, clinical education, real-time data surveillance and other resources within the hospital or health care system’s local service area.

In 2017, the Washington Poison Center received more than 25,000 calls from emergency department physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medics and 911 regarding patients presenting with poisonings, drug overdoses and toxic exposures.

The Washington Poison Center’s call center team is comprised of 16 specialists in poison information. These pharmacists and nurses with expert-level training in toxicology — along with seven board-certified physician medical toxicologists — have provided direct support to providers in health care facilities needing assistance with evaluating and managing an increasing number of polysubstance overdoses. This is in addition to cases involving toxic exposures to chemicals, and serious unintentional poisonings in young children.

The Washington Poison Center provides hospitals and health care systems with:

  • Unlimited access to board-certified physician medical toxicologists for telephone consultations, 24/7/365.
  • Direct access 1 (800) number dedicated to hospitals and first responders for immediate support from expert-level specialists in poison information.
  • Translation services available in more than 260 languages for non-English speaking patients.
  • Wraparound care for patients from dedicated call center staff until case is resolved.
  • Clinical education training from our board-certified physician medical toxicologists on a variety of timely and relevant health care topics affecting the delivery of health care.
  • Public health education within the hospital or health care system’s service delivery area focused on education, prevention and harm reduction.
  • Public health alerts on how to diagnose, treat and manage emerging public health issues like opioid overdoses, synthetic cannabinoid contamination and snake bites.
  • Real-time data surveillance that identifies emerging public health trends.

For more information about the Washington Poison Center or its 2019 Hospital Fair Share campaign, contact Jennifer Monteleone, director, development & marketing, at (206) 517-2367 or jmonteleone@wapc.org. (Ashley Beil)

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