National Center for Environmental Health, CDC, Chamblee, Georgia 30341, USA.
Am J Prev Med. 2010 Jun;38(6):658-62. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.02.010.
Poison control centers and clinical toxicologists serve many roles within public health; however, the degree to which these entities collaborate is unknown.
The objective of this survey was to identify successful collaborations of public health agencies with clinical toxicologists and poison control centers. Four areas including outbreak identification, syndromic surveillance, terrorism preparedness, and daily public health responsibilities amenable to poison control center resources were assessed.
An online survey was sent to the directors of poison control centers, state epidemiologists, and the most senior public health official in each state and selected major metropolitan areas. This survey focused on three areas: service, structure within the local or state public health system, and remuneration. Questions regarding remuneration and poison control center location within the public health structure were asked to assess if these were critical factors of successful collaborations. Senior state and local public health officials were excluded because of a low response rate. The survey was completed in October 2007.
A total of 111 respondents, 61 poison control centers and 50 state epidemiologists, were eligible for the survey. Sixty-nine (62%) of the 111 respondents, completed and returned the survey. Thirty-three (54%) of the 61 poison control centers responded, and 36 of the 50 state epidemiologists (72%) responded. The most frequent collaborations were terrorism preparedness and epidemic illness reporting. Additional collaborations also exist. Important collaborations exist outside of remuneration or poison control centers being a formal part of the public health structure.
Poison control centers have expanded their efforts to include outbreak identification, syndromic surveillance, terrorism preparedness, and daily public health responsibilities amenable to poison control center resources. Collaboration in these areas and others should be expanded.
中毒控制中心和临床毒理学家在公共卫生领域发挥着多种作用；然而，这些实体之间的合作程度尚不清楚。
本调查的目的是确定公共卫生机构与临床毒理学家和中毒控制中心成功合作的领域。评估了四个领域，包括暴发识别、症状监测、恐怖主义准备和中毒控制中心资源可用于的日常公共卫生职责。
向中毒控制中心主任、州流行病学家以及每个州和选定的主要大都市地区的最高公共卫生官员发送了在线调查。该调查主要集中在三个方面：服务、地方或州公共卫生系统内的结构以及报酬。询问了有关报酬和中毒控制中心在公共卫生结构内位置的问题，以评估这些是否是成功合作的关键因素。由于回复率低，高级州和地方公共卫生官员被排除在外。调查于 2007 年 10 月完成。
共有 111 名符合条件的受访者，其中 61 名来自中毒控制中心，50 名来自州流行病学家。111 名受访者中的 69 名（62%）完成并返回了调查。61 个中毒控制中心中有 33 个（54%）做出了回应，50 个州流行病学家中有 36 个（72%）做出了回应。最常见的合作领域是恐怖主义准备和流行病报告。还存在其他合作。在报酬或中毒控制中心不是公共卫生结构正式组成部分的情况下，也存在重要的合作。
中毒控制中心已经扩大了其努力范围，包括暴发识别、症状监测、恐怖主义准备以及中毒控制中心资源可用于的日常公共卫生职责。应该扩大这些领域和其他领域的合作。
