VCU's Virginia Poison Center to begin using new national number

By Michael Ford
University News Services

RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Poison Center has a new toll-free number for poison help. It is 1-800-222-1222.

The Virginia Poison Center thus officially joins 64 other poison centers across the country in promoting the national hotline for poison emergencies, prevention, treatment and advice.

The benefit of the new national number is that Virginia residents now can reach specially trained nurses, pharmacists or physicians, no matter where they are in the United States, by calling 1-800-222-1222.

"This is good for Virginians, and it’s good for Americans," said Evelyn Waring, R.N., CSPI, director of education for the Virginia Poison Center, an emergency telephone resource of poisoning information run by Virginia Commonwealth University Health System’s Department of Emergency Medicine. "In an emergency, when every second counts, rapid access to a poison center’s experts could save a life."

Said S. Rutherfoord Rose, Pharm.D., director of the Virginia Poison Center and associate professor of emergency medicine at VCU’s School of Medicine, "We encourage everyone to learn this new number so they can easily access it, anytime and anywhere in the U.S."

The national campaign to promote the hotline is sponsored by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. It is the result of legislation passed by Congress in February 2000 to enhance the public’s awareness of poison control centers and their capabilities.

The Virginia Poison Center has launched an outdoor advertising campaign to promote the hotline. A direct-mail campaign is being used to target mental health providers, public health agencies and daycare providers.

Established more than 20 years ago, the Virginia Poison Center serves central and eastern Virginia. Registered nurses, with critical care experience and special training in poison information and clinical toxicology, staff its emergency phone lines. VPC responds to more than 30,000 calls annually, involving chemical, pharmaceutical and biological toxins.