Posted: 3/18/2019
National Poison Prevention Week observed March 17-23
Spring cleaning season is upon us. While spiffing up our space can be therapeutic, it also can pose some health hazards such as exposure to potentially dangerous cleaning products, paint, household chemicals or even close encounters with poisonous bugs and snakes. If any of these exposures occur, the first call should be to the experts at the North Texas Poison Center (NTPC) located at Parkland Health & Hospital System.
Part of the nationwide network of Poison Centers, the NTPC is on the front lines helping people decide whether a poison or substance exposure is serious enough to seek immediate emergency care or whether it is something that can be handled at home.
“Our main job at the NTPC is to help callers 24/7 and reassure them during tense and frightening times,” said Anelle Menendez, MD, one of the 16 poison specialists who answer phones at the NTPC’s toll-free call center. “We answer all types of calls. They range from patients taking too much of their routine medicines, children ingesting household cleaning products and even people bitten by snakes.”
NTPC, along with five other accredited regional poison centers, provides emergency treatment information to the residents of Texas for poisonings or toxic exposures. The NTPC region covers 42 counties and a population of about 8 million. Staff members are specialists in poison information and include registered nurses, pharmacists, physicians specializing in toxicology and physician assistants.
In 2018 the NTPC handled 63,677 calls, an average of about 175 calls each day. Combined, the six regional centers in the Texas Poison Center Network (TPCN) handled 225,436 calls in 2018.
“Education plays a great role in what we do,” said Lizbeth Petty, Public Health Educator at NTPC. “We frequently go out to schools, health fairs and other groups in the community to educate people about possible dangers and to inform them of the Poison Help number.”
Dr. Menendez said the NTPC staff aims to keep people at home if they do not require emergency treatment in healthcare facilities. “We want people to know what to do in case of a life-threatening emergency,” she said.
According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System, more than 90 percent of the time, poisonings happen in people’s homes and most of them occur in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.
“Following a few simple steps can help prevent a poisoning from happening at home,” Petty said. “Parents can teach children to never touch or put anything in their mouths unless they know what it is.”
According to Petty people should also:
• Keep medicines and cleaning products in their original containers, properly labeled, and store them appropriately.
• Do not use food containers to store household cleaners, chemicals or hazardous products.
• Keep all laundry products locked up, high, and out of the reach of children.
• Have working carbon monoxide detectors in your home near bedrooms and close to furnaces.
• Know what poisonous snakes live in your area and wear proper attire (boots and long pants) when hiking outdoors.
• Check the label on any insect repellent and be aware that most contain DEET, which can be poisonous.
• Be sure that everyone in your family can identify poisonous mushrooms and plants. Remember, when it comes to poison ivy, “leaves of three, let it be.”
Anyone can contact the NTPC by dialing the national toll-free number at 1-800-222-1222. You can also add the Poison Help number to your smartphone contacts by texting the word “poison” to 797979.
For more information about the North Texas Poison Center, visit www.poisoncontrol.org. To find out about services at Parkland, go to www.parklandhospital.com.