Emergency Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, Newark, NJ, USA.
Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2021 Dec;59(12):1228-1233. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2021.1905163. Epub 2021 Mar 31.
Poison Centers are uniquely positioned to respond to an unprecedented public health threat such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as fully operational 24-h hotlines already staffed with healthcare professionals.
On January 27, 2020 the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System (NJPIES) agreed to operate the New Jersey Coronavirus Hotline. Call patterns, subject matter, and staffing and infrastructure strategies that were implemented to meet the demand are described. In addition, a sample of 1500 individual calls were collected and analyzed in an endeavor to describe call times, call days, area from which the call originated, callers to the hotline, primary language of the caller, and why a call was placed to the hotline. Binomial regression analysis was utilized in an attempt to identify significant patterns.
Since the inception of the hotline through October 31, NJPIES responded to 57,579 calls for COVID-19 information. Most calls (68.7%) were regarding testing for COVID-19 and for general questions/symptoms. Call types varied when they were analyzed by time of day with calls for general questions/symptoms and where to get tested for COVID-19 showing a significant association for the early morning hours, how to obtain test results being significantly associated with the afternoon hours, and how to renew or obtain a medical license showing a significant association to the evening hours. We additionally noted that specific call types became significant when analyzed on a week-to-week basis and as specific events, like the enactment of the CARES Act of 2020, occurred.
Although not the traditional role of a regional Poison Control Center, pandemic response synergizes with the workflow of this hotline because the infrastructure, staffing, and healthcare expertise are already present. Poison centers can rapidly adapt through scaling and process change to meet the needs of the public during times of public health threats.
中毒控制中心在应对新冠疫情等前所未有的公共卫生威胁方面具有独特的优势，因为其拥有配备医疗专业人员的 24 小时热线。
2020 年 1 月 27 日，新泽西中毒信息和教育系统（NJPIES）同意运营新泽西冠状病毒热线。描述了为满足需求而实施的呼叫模式、主题、人员配备和基础设施策略。此外，收集并分析了 1500 个样本电话，以描述呼叫时间、呼叫日、呼叫来源地区、致电热线的呼叫者、呼叫者的主要语言以及致电热线的原因。使用二项式回归分析尝试确定显著模式。
自热线成立以来，截至 10 月 31 日，NJPIES 已接到 57579 个有关新冠疫情信息的来电。大多数电话（68.7%）是关于新冠病毒检测和一般问题/症状的。根据一天中的时间分析呼叫类型时，有关一般问题/症状和何处进行新冠病毒检测的呼叫存在显著关联，清晨时段的呼叫数量较多，下午时段与如何获取检测结果显著相关，晚上时段与如何续证或获取行医执照显著相关。我们还注意到，当按周分析或在特定事件（例如 2020 年《关怀法案》的颁布）发生时，特定的呼叫类型会变得显著。
虽然这不是区域中毒控制中心的传统角色，但大流行应对与该热线的工作流程相吻合，因为基础设施、人员配备和医疗专业知识已经存在。在公共卫生威胁时期，中毒中心可以通过扩大规模和改变流程来迅速适应，以满足公众的需求。
