10pm-11pm (17 calls)
A 2 year old ingested an unknown amount of moisturizing body butter. A 69 year old male inadvertently swallowed a Spiriva capsule instead of using it in his powder inhaler. A caller who had recently...
View ArticleA Day In the Life of a Poison Center
We hope you enjoyed our day in the life of the Poison Center blog-a-thon yesterday. Those 282 cases represent just a single day here at IPC; that translates to over 100,000 people that we help each...
View ArticleThe downside of inadequate poison center funding
What is it going to cost you? Make no doubt about it; these are tough times for non-profit health services, especially those that have a limited ability to charge for their services. A few weeks ago,...
View ArticleDon’t Tolerate Toxic Toasts by Toddlers this Holiday Season
At the stroke of midnight on Friday, December 31st, many of us will be ringing in 2011 with the familiar phrase “happy new year!” while sipping our favorite alcoholic beverages. However, being...
View ArticleThe State of Poison Centers: Is it the End or the Beginning?
Have you ever wondered about the vital role poison centers play in enhancing health care in America? This week’s blog post is a contribution from the President of the American Association of Poison...
View ArticleKeeping Illinois Safe: Hazard surveillance & Public health safety
The Illinois Poison Center (IPC) receives over 90,000 poison-related calls from the public and health care providers around the state every year. Individually, each call is important to us and to the...
View ArticleAnswering the call in a public health emergency
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Mr. Yuk and the limitation of the symbol. Poison centers embrace their traditional service in helping mothers and other care givers care their little loved ones when...
View ArticleTop 6 Reasons Why One National Poison Center is NOT the Answer
Last month, we explained how cutting funding for poison centers is a classic case of ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ and the loss of poison centers would lead to a drastic increase in unnecessary health...
View ArticleNational Take-Back Initiative 2011
For the second consecutive year, the DEA will coordinate a collaborative effort with state and local law enforcement agencies to remove potentially dangerous controlled substances from our nation’s...
View ArticleComing Soon to a Pharmacy Near You…
New Pediatric Acetaminophen Dosing Guidelines and Formulation Changes If you are in tune to healthcare and medical news stories, you probably already know that overdosing or chronically using too much...
View ArticleMuch To Be Thankful For…
The Illinois Poison Center has much to be thankful for. The IPC is very grateful for the support that readers of our blog, Facebook page members, educators, volunteers, Twitter followers, students,...
View ArticleCalling the IPC? Here’s What You Can Expect…
Over 70,000 Illinois residents call the IPC from home, work or other location every year for help regarding a potentially harmful substance. However if you’ve never called our poison center, you may be...
View ArticleToo Much of A Good Thing…
Making sense of new voluntary dosing guidelines on acetaminophen containing products: Minimizing liver damage associated with a common medicine. Acetaminophen is one of the most common over-the-counter...
View Article“My Child Ate…Grandma’s Medicine”
Over the next 4 weeks the IPC staff will contribute some of their most compelling cases from the call center that often start with three words, “my child ate…” We hope you enjoy this blog series, and...
View Article“My Child Ate…Poop!”
Welcome to the IPC’s second installment of the “my child ate…” blog series. Last week Mike explored the dangers of prescription medications, and this week I am going to talk about stuff kids eat that...
View Article“My Child Ate…Something Around the House!”
The blog series “My Child Ate…” continues this week with us taking a look at the top ten things children are getting into around the house. Each year, poison centers receive over one million calls...
View ArticleBabysitters & Nannies: Things to know before the parents go
If you are a babysitter/sitter/nanny, or ever entrust your precious progeny to one of them, then this article is for you. About half of the IPC’s 80,000 exposures every year involve kids age 5 and...
View ArticleNew Illinois Law Expands Allergy Treatment Options in Schools
How you would like your child’s school year to start out something like this: It is a typical day during lunchtime at the local elementary school cafeteria. A kindergartner with a severe peanut...
View ArticleWe’re Grateful You’re Part of Our Team!
As we approach the end of this year, we would like to thank all of you for your continued support of the IPC. The IPC is proud to play a vital role in Illinois’ health care network. Without you and...
View ArticleThanksgiving Day Turkey Disasters
If you are a regular reader of IPC’s blog, you know that we can get some pretty wild calls. In honor of T-day 2011, here are some of the most bizarre food-related Thanksgiving calls our staff has...
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