Oregon Poison Center

The Oregon Poison Center is a 24-hour health care information and treatment resource for poison emergencies serving Oregon and Guam.

The poison center was established by an act of the Oregon State Legislature in 1978 to provide emergency treatment information for patients experiencing a poisoning or toxic exposure. The Oregon Poison Center is also responsible for providing public outreach and education to health care professionals. The Poison Center staff is made up of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists trained in toxicology. Our staff handles nearly 50,000 calls a year.

Our staff uses their professional expertise as well as an extensive variety of computer databases, textbooks and journal articles to determine the appropriate treatment guidelines for patients. Careful assessment of patient condition as well as substance of exposure is necessary before determining treatment recommendations. The poison center staff utilizes continuous follow-up and evaluation to determine whether the recommended treatment is effective in producing a positive patient outcome.

Mission

Our Mission is to prevent poisonings and to minimize adverse effects of exposures to drugs, poisons, chemicals and natural toxins. To guide effective utilization of health care resources by serving the public, health care providers and public health agencies, through telephone advice and consultation, educational outreach, research and emergency response planning.

Our callers

Just under half (46%) of the patients receiving assistance from the Oregon Poison Center are children less than six-years-of-age. Adults over 19 years of age represent about 46% of exposure cases. Most calls originate from the public, seeking initial advice prior to any other contact with health care providers.

Medications represent the most frequent substance of exposure. Exposures to household products are the second most frequent reason for contacting the center. Modern technology has resulted in an increased number of chemicals in our daily environment. Poison center services are also being utilized after workplace and environmental chemical exposures.

Learn more about Oregon Poison Center poisoning data in our annual data by reading our annual summary reports.

Minimize societal impact of poisoning

Poison Center staff are committed to cost-saving measures in the management poisoned patients. This goal includes the appropriate management of patients in their homes or referrals for hospital management. Poison prevention efforts are also incorporated within our care.

An estimated four million poisonings occur in the United States each year. The majority of these occur in children, and nearly all of these are preventable. In an effort to reduce the incidence of accidental poisoning, the Oregon Poison Center maintains a commitment to providing poison prevention information and education to our citizens.

Learn more, 'Poison Control' Radio lab podcast

Listen to a first hand account of one mom's experience with he local poison center and learn more about what we do to support callers during a poison emergency.