Information sources accessed by parents following childhood poisoning.

OBJECTIVE

To ascertain the sources of information accessed by parents/caregivers following an incident of child poison ingestion, prior to their presentation to an ED.

METHODS

A questionnaire based survey of the parents/caregivers of children presenting to the Mater Children's Hospital Emergency Department with poisoning from March to October 2001.

RESULTS

A total of 121 parents/caregivers were surveyed. In 117 cases (97%), information was sought prior to presentation. The Poisons Information Centre (PIC) was the initial source of information in 39 cases (32%), the ED in 25 cases (21%) and the family doctor (by telephone or consultation) in 21 cases (17%). Poisons Information Centres, emergency departments and family doctors were the sole sources of information for 18%, 15% and 12% of cases, respectively. For 46% of cases multiple sources of information were accessed, and overall, in 57 cases (47%) the Poisons Information Centre was accessed, the ED in 38 cases (31%) and the family doctor in 34 cases (28%).

CONCLUSIONS

Poisons Information Centres are under-utilized as the first point of contact after childhood poisoning but in nearly all cases of poison ingestion that presented to the ED, information was sought prior to presentation and in most cases this was from direct contact with a health professional.