Poison Control Centre
About
The Poison Control Centre is a fundamentally public health unit whose main purpose is to provide professional help in treating cases of poisoning through a 24/7 telephone information service. The Centre has been functional under the Institute since 1970 and currently it is managed by the employees of the Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, who respond to telephone calls primarily from health institutions and professionals as well as occasionally from citizens and international callers.
A variety of substances can lead to poisoning and no health professional can be expected to know them all, let alone their many toxicological characteristics. In this sense, the information service of the Poison Control Centre can be of great help because it is focused precisely on making quick initial estimates of poisonings and assessing the need for further diagnostics and treatment. Apart from more adequate healthcare, timely consulting the Centre enables a more rational utilisation of health services and prevents unnecessary medical procedures that often prove unpleasant or even risky for the patient.
Basic statistical data about the number of calls received by the Centre during a year, including info on who sought the information as well as the type of patient and poisoning, are published annually in the Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology.