Activity

Activity Description

In response to a request from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the committee considered the future of poison prevention and control services in the United States. To address this charge, the Committee reviewed the past and current approaches to the provision of poison prevention and control services, including:

1. The scope of services provided (such as: telephone consultation, providing technical assistance and/or hospital consultation for the care of patients with life-threatening poisonings, education of the public and professionals, coordination with other emergency services, and others);
2. The role of poison control centers with respect to other public health, medical care and emergency medical services;
3. The strengths and weaknesses of various organizational structures for poison control centers and services, including a consideration of personnel needs;
4. Approaches to providing the financial resources for poisoning prevention and control services;
5. Methods for assuring consistent, high quality services, including the certification of centers and other methods of evaluation; and
6. Current and future data systems and needs.

The committee considered future demographic and population trends, and how these might have an impact on population needs for poison prevention and control services, and other relevant factors.