Executive Summary

Poison control services have been available in New York State since 1955. At one time, there were more than twenty poison control centers providing services to the residents of New York State, primarily through hospital emergency rooms. In 1986, the Poison Control Network Act established regional poison control centers throughout the State. Eight (8) regional centers were originally designated, formulating the statewide network dedicated to preventing injury and death from poisoning by providing poison emergency assessment and treatment information, public education, and health professional education. In 1990, the number of centers comprising the New York Poison Control Network was reduced to six (6). This was the case during the first six (6) months of 2001.

In mid 2001, the Hudson Valley Regional Poison Center, located at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow, New York, converted to an educational center only. Responsibilities for other than public education services were handled by the Central New York Regional Poison Control Center for all counties originally handled by the Hudson Valley Regional Poison Center, except for Westchester County. The Long Island Regional Poison and Drug Information Center assumed the responsibility for other than public education services in Westchester County.

With this structural modification, the New York State Poison Control Network is now comprised of five (5) regional poison control call centers and one (1) public education center. The Network is dedicated to preventing injury and death from poisoning by providing poison emergency assessment and treatment information, public education, and health professional education. The centers disseminate expert information to the general public as well as to professionals, participate in the collection of uniform data and conduct research to enhance the science of toxicology.

The centers are immediately available, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, to health care professionals, as well as the general public, for the purpose of providing expert telephone consultation for emergency poison exposures and inquiries. The emergency telephone numbers and services are widely publicized in each of the regions. The centers serve as a source of information to both health care professionals and the general public regarding intentional and unintentional exposures. Calls form the general public are triaged to determine if further medical evaluation is needed. Calls from the Emergency Department are evaluated and treatment is streamlined. This primary function allows for a decrease in State medical costs. In addition, the centers respond to a variety of information questions that include life saving antidotes and vaccines, as well as being a primary resource for education and research on poison related issues. The centers provide professional education to medical students, physicians, pharmacists, nurses and other health care professionals. Overall, the Network strives to promote poisoning prevention among the general public through a variety of outreach programs, various education programs and literature distribution designed for specific age groups.

One of the functions of the Poison Control Network is to report information on pesticide poisonings to the New York State Department of Health for the monitoring of acute and chronic effects of pesticide exposure. Since 1999, the centers within the network with constituents in the greater New York metropolitan area have been doing on-going research and review of pesticide information relative to the outbreak of the West Nile Virus.

During 2001, the poison control centers in New York State were supported through reimbursement authorized under the Health Care Reform Act (HCRA) of 2000. In addition, poison center host institutions are provided an add-on to their Medicaid emergency room rate. The current HCRA methodology provides five million dollars annually, which is distributed through the host institutions.

Previous assessments by the Network indicate poison control center services prevent emergency room visits by as much as forty percent (40%) of members of the general public contacting the centers for assistance.

Appendix Two provides graphic reports of the statistical data specific to the telephone services provided by the centers in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

In 2002:

  • The two major categories of telephone calls received were human exposure and information calls.
  • The Network of centers received over 189,000 calls in 2002. Approximately sixty-nine percent (69%) of these calls were related to human poisonings and twenty-seven percent (27%) were requests for information.
  • Forty-seven percent (47%) of the information calls in 2002 dealt with questions concerning drug information and identification;
  • Poisoning to children under five years of age constitute forty-seven percent (47%) of human exposure calls in 2002;
  • Unintentional poisonings comprise the predominant number of human poisoning exposures;
  • Of the 131,791 human exposure calls received during 2002, less than two percent (2%) resulted in a major effect or death;
  • The vast majority of the human exposure calls (approximately 66% in 2002) were managed on-site without need for additional health care intervention, contributing a significant cost savings to the health care system;
  • Seventy-seven (77%) of all human exposure calls were the result of ingestion.

In 2003:

  • The two major categories of telephone calls received were human exposure and information calls.
  • The Network of centers received 188,122 calls in 2003. Approximately seventy percent (70%) of these calls were related to human poisonings and twenty-eight percent (27%) were requests for information.
  • Forty-five percent (45%) of the information calls in 2003 dealt with questions concerning drug information and identification.
  • Poisoning to children under five years of age constitute forty-seven percent (47%) of human exposure calls in 2003.
  • Unintentional poisonings comprise the predominate number of human poisoning exposures.
  • Of the 130,703 human exposure calls received during 2003, less than two percent (2%) resulted in a major effect or death.
  • The vast majority of the human exposure calls (approximately 69% in 2003) were managed on-site without need for additional health care intervention, contributing a significant cost savings to the health care system.
  • Seventy-nine percent (79%) of all human exposure calls were the result of ingestion.

In 2004:

  • The two major categories of telephone calls received were human exposure and information calls.
  • The Network of centers received 177,705 calls in 2004. Approximately seventy-one percent (71%) of these calls were related to human poisonings and twenty-six percent (26%) were requests for information.
  • Forty-three percent (43%) of the information calls in 2004 dealt with questions concerning drug information and identification.
  • Poisoning to children under five years of age constitute forty-eight percent (48%) of human exposure calls in 2004.
  • Unintentional poisonings comprise the predominate number of human poisoning exposures.
  • Of the 126,368 human exposure calls received during 2004, less than two percent (2%) resulted in a major effect or death.
  • The vast majority of the human exposure calls (approximately 68% in 2004) were managed on-site without need for additional health care intervention, contributing a significant cost savings to the health care system.
  • Seventy-eight percent (78%) of all human exposure calls were the result of ingestion.

The poison centers within the Network continue to work directly with the State's 911 system by providing training and education to the dispatchers. The poison centers are involved in triaging 911 patients regarding poison exposure. The Network recognizes trends in poisonings as well as seasonal hazards and coordinates services throughout the Network as a statewide service.