Report

Approximately 4 million poisoning episodes (actual or suspected exposures) occur in the United States annually, with approximately 300,000 cases leading to hospitalization. The poisoning death rate increased by 56 percent between 1990 and 2001 and poisoning was the second leading cause of injury-related mortality, accounting for an estimated 30,800 deaths annually in 2001. New concerns about biological and chemical terrorist acts have elevated poisoning to a national security issue of public health importance.

In the report Forging a Poison Prevention and Control System, the IOM considers the future of poison prevention and control services and assists in developing a more systematic approach to understanding, stabilizing, and providing long-term support for poison prevention and control services. The report examines the role of poison control services within the context of the larger public health system, the injury prevention and control field, and the fields of general medical care and medical and clinical toxicology; it also looks at how poison control centers function relative to the functions preformed by other health care agencies and government organizations.

The report concluded that in order to fulfill their pivotal role in the overall system, poison control centers must be more stable financially and better integrated and coordinated for performance of their public health roles. It also concluded that a system of regional centers would provide an appropriate balance of size and responsiveness and would be critical to the development of the national Poison Prevention and Control System.