While vaccine rollouts promise some light at the end of the tunnel, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on health care providers, with many hospitals stretched thin by the number of coronavirus patients they are treating, the extra precautions they have to take and other pandemic-related challenges.
Meanwhile, surveys indicate that fear of going to the hospital during the pandemic has led many people to avoid seeking the urgent or even emergency care they need. This is dangerous, and it’s important to seek appropriate care in a medical emergency, because the long-term effects can be much worse if you delay.
However, in many situations, emergency care is not necessary, and you can help our hospital workers greatly by avoiding an unnecessary trip. That’s where the poison center can help. Our poison specialists are available 24/7 to provide free, immediate, expert advice in cases of potential poisoning—and that includes a lot more situations than you might think. Here are just a few examples:
- Your child swallowed a cleaning product, medication, vitamin, toy or other household item
- You took your medication twice.
- You took your spouse’s medication or your pet’s medication.
- You took your nighttime medication in the morning.
- You got a cleaning product in your eye.
- Your skin feels irritated after you’ve used a cleaning product or spilled some on yourself.
- You drank a cleaner or other product that was being stored in a juice bottle.
- You feel sick after using marijuana or vaping a nicotine product.
Most of the time in cases of potential poisoning, our experts will be able to provide all the treatment information you need over the phone. In fact, 9 out of 10 times someone calls from home we are able to help them right there—and it’s 95% of the time when the case involves a child 12 or younger. In other cases, our experts will direct you to the best place for additional help, whether that’s the emergency department, your doctor’s office, your pharmacist or another health care provider. And in those cases we’ll work with your other providers to make sure you get the best and most efficient care possible.
Calling the poison center can help you avoid the time, expense and anxiety of a trip to the hospital, and it also helps our front-line hospital workers focus on those who need help the most. It’s a win-win. Save the poison center number, 1-800-222-1222, in your phone today. And remember you can also reach our experts by text message by sending the word POISON to 85511 or by chatting with us online.
