Resources for Healthcare Professionals

The Kansas Poison Center is a valuable resource for health care professionals. Nearly 30% of calls to the Kansas Poison Center come from healthcare providers, including physicians, nurses, EMS providers, pharmacists and physician assistants.

When To Call

Please call anytime for all patients with:

• Intentional overdoses
• Unintentional or accidental poisonings
• Possible snake or spider bites
• Medication errors
• Drug/antidote information or identification questions

Why Call?

The Kansas Poison Center is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by highly trained pharmacists and nurses who are certified as specialists in poison information. Board-certified medical and clinical toxicologists are on-call 24/7 to assist with complex cases.

We can provide expert medical consultation for both acute and chronic cases, assisting with:

• Diagnosis and prognosis
• Need for monitoring and laboratory testing
• Detailed information on antidote use
• Case management and follow-up

Patients managed with poison center expertise experience shorter hospitalizations, which helps healthcare providers improve the quality of care and decrease overall healthcare costs. See references below.

Fast and free expert help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-222-1222. All calls to the Kansas Poison Center are confidential. Patient information is protected in
compliance with HIPAA regulations.

Resources

1. The Lewin Group, Inc. Final Report on the Value of the Poison Center System. Sept. 26 2012.
2. Blizzard JC, Michels JE, Richardson WH, Reeder CE, Schulz RM, Holstege CP. Cost-benefit analysis of a regional poison center. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2008 Jun;46(5):450-6. PMID: 18568801
3. King WD, Palmisano PA. Poison control centers: can their value be measured? South Med J. 1991 Jun;84(6):722-6. PMID: 2052960.
4. Farkas A, Kostic M, Huang CC, Gummin D. Poison center consultation reduces hospital length of stay. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2022 Jul;60(7):863-868. PMID: 35261300.
5. Friedman LS, Krajewski A, Vannoy E, Allegretti A, Wahl M. The association between U.S. Poison Center assistance and length of stay and hospital charges. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2014 Mar;52(3):198-206. PMID: 24580060.
6. Galvão TF, Silva MT, Silva CD, Barotto AM, Gavioli IL, Bucaretchi F, Atallah AN. Impact of a poison control center on the length of hospital stay of poisoned patients: retrospective cohort. Sao Paulo Med J. 2011 Jan 6;129(1):23-9. PMID: 21437505.
7. Vassilev ZP, Marcus SM. The impact of a poison control center on the length of hospital stay for patients with poisoning. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2007 Jan 15;70(2):107-10. PMID: 17365570.