TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2004//
TI  - Evaluation of the effect of a public educator on calls and poisonings reported to a regional poison center
JO  - Veterinary and human toxicology
A1  - Spiller, Henry A.
A1  - Mowry, James B.
SP  - 206
EP  - 208
VL  - 46
IS  - 4
N2  - There are few studies that use measurable outcomes to gauge the effect of a public educator on the mission of the poison center. Human exposures, penetrance and total call volume from 2 regional poison centers for 7y (1996-2002) were evaluated. In poison center 1 a dedicated educator was employed for the final 4y of data (1999-2002). Poison center 2 data acted as a control with no dedicated educator for the 7-y period. The 2 centers were comparable in a number of ways: similar demographic rural and urban populations; similar geographic and economic region; and served the entire state. Human exposures in poison center 1 increased 4.3 % after employment of a dedicated educator, while exposure continued to decline at center 2 (1.7%). A steep decline in penetrance in poison center 1 was reversed after employment of a dedicated educator. Human exposures and penetrance for poison center 2 continued to decline during the study years. Total calls to center 1 increased 13.8% while total calls to center 2 remained flat (0.2%). This is the first study to use measurable outcomes to evaluate the impact of a public educator on the mission of a poison center. The addition of a public educator was associated with a positive impact on human exposures and penetrance reported to a regional poison center.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0145-6296
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -