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- EIN 52-1880478
- (202) 362-3867
- 3201 New Mexico Ave Nw Ste 310 Washington DC 20016-2739 USA
- www.poison.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Emergency Medical Services & Transport, Health, Health Care, Hot Lines & Crisis Intervention, Mental Health, Public Health, Suicide Prevention
Mission: The mission of the poison center (ncpc) is to prevent poisonings, save lives, and limit injury from poisoning. In addition to saving lives, the center decreases health care costs of poisoning cases.
Programs: In fy2015 the national capital poison center provided telephone consultations for 40,978 human poison emergencies, 1453 pet poisonings, and 15,080 drug, medical or poison-related inquiries from the dc metro area. Other services include online guidance for poison emergencies, through webpoisoncontrol, an online tool and downloadable app that provides help for acute, unintentional ingestions when symptoms have not yet developed - the most common type of call to poison control. Poison prevention education is provided through: 1) distribution of stickers, magnets, brochures, tip cards, and preschool dvd programs; 2) presentations at health fairs; 3) media features; 4) an electronic newsletter; and 5) two websites (www. Poison. Org, www. Webpoisoncontrol. Org). An extensive toxicosurveillance program facilitates the prompt detection of hazardous products; once identified, the center urges reformulation, repackaging, re-labeling, product redesign, or banning. Continuous real-time toxicosurveillance also focuses on detection of chemical or biological terrorism and emerging public health incidents. Clinical toxicology training is provided for health professional students, residents and fellows, practicing health professionals, first responders and public health personnel. The safe management of 65% of poison center callers at home cuts health care costs by avoiding unnecessary emergency department visits, unnecessary ambulance transports, and excessively long hospital stays.