A regional poison control system. Effect on response to hypothetical poisonings

S. M. Marcus, C. Chafee-Bahamon, V. W. Arnold and F. H. Lovejoy Jr

Poisoning of young children frequently results in parents seeking help. Parents either telephone for poison treatment information or go directly to a physician's office, hospital clinic, or emergency room. To determine if a regional poison control system reduces the inappropriate use of medical treatment services, parents attending suburban and inner-city clinics were presented hypothetical pediatric poisoning episodes and asked how they would respond. Parents living in a state serviced by a regional poison information center (Massachusetts) telephoned for information significantly more often and consequently used medical treatment services 19% less than did parents living in a state with only local poison information centers (New Jersey). In both states, inner-city populations went for care whereas suburban populations called. Both inner-city and suburban populations responded to a regional poison center but to a different extent. More severe ingestions tended to increase the use of the regional center by the Massachusetts suburban population, whereas other populations tended to use even more direct services.