TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1982//
TI  - Poison center operations: the necessity of follow-up
JO  - Annals of emergency medicine
A1  - Litovitz, T. L.
A1  - Elshami, J. E.
SP  - 348
EP  - 352
VL  - 11
IS  - 7
N2  - A retrospective study of 2,526 calls made to a regional poison center demonstrated the value of telephone follow-up of poison exposures. Further treatment recommendations were required in 21.2% of follow-up calls, more than 25% of which were made to physicians. Poison prevention education and data collection were accomplished in more than 95% of cases. Twenty-four telephone follow-up calls corrected major treatment errors, corresponding to a dramatic change in patient management more than twice each week. This study delineates the functions and value of the follow-up call in the treatment and prevention of poisonings and in toxicologic research. Because the effective use of this procedure is limited to comprehensive poison centers with vast resources and full-time staff, this study further supports regionalization to promote maximal utilization of this and other elements of poison control.
LA  - 
SN  - 0196-0644
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -