Poison information providers: an assessment of proficiency.

An analysis of the results of a national certification examination for poison information specialists administered by the American Association of Poison Control Centers is presented. The failure rate in nonregional centers was more than double that in regional centers, and presents a strong argument for regionalization. Poison information specialists with prior training as pharmacists or registered nurses performed significantly better than those who were high school or college graduates in other fields, emergency medical technicians, or licensed practical nurses. Poison information specialists in centers receiving more than 15,000 calls each year had significantly higher scores. Individual total work experience also had a small but significant correlation with score. The mean score for emergency physicians serving as a control group was 57.0% compared with 77.1% for poison information specialists. The data suggest that telephone consultations for poison emergencies are done best by those who do them on a specialized full-time basis. Calls should be referred to the appropriate regional poison control center.