By WMBD-TV
PEORIA – The Illinois Poison Center, the nation’s oldest poison center, is joining other poison centers to raise awareness for National Poison Prevention Week.
This year’s NPPW theme is “When the unexpected happens, Poison Help is here for you 24/7″, The campaign runs from March 17 to March 23, according to an IPC news release.
“Poison dangers are all around us and can impact everyone,” says IPC Medical Director Michael Wahl, M.D.
“We have pharmacists, nurses and poison information providers standing by 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to answer questions about potential risks, provide treatment advice, and help reduce the risk of harm. No issue is too big or too small for us and calls are free and confidential,” he continued.
Last year, IPC handled 72,000 poison cases. Roughly one-third of of those calls came directly from doctors needing additional guidance on behalf of patients. These doctor inquiries to IPC can range from overdoses, medication errors or adverse reactions, plants, household chemicals, automotive products, insect stings, lead, carbon monoxide and more.
Due to carbon monoxide inhalation and overdoses, poisoning is the leading cause of injury-related death for adults 25 to 64 years old in Illinois. Poisoning outranks both firearms and car crashes combined, according to Illinois’ 2018-2022 State Strategic Plan to Prevent Injury, Violence, and Suicide.
Resources about poison help can be found here.
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