Noninteractive emergency consultation for acute intoxication.

The delivery of consultation for treatment of acute intoxication encounters several obstacles. The physician must recognize the case with which he needs assistance; he must be aware that assistance is available; the help must be technically correct; the delivery system must maintain responsible professional continuity while providing consultation at the time and place where it is required. The consultation must be appropriate to the clinical problem at hand in that immediate life-threatening aspects are covered quickly while continuing care and principles are deferred. Availability of specialized equipment and drugs must be assured by some method of precrisis communication. A system for delivery of telephone consultation for the treatment of acute intoxication is described. The system is based on a collection of prepared tapes, providing consultation of 3 to 6 min duration, oriented toward specific topics such as etiologic substances, common clinical syndromes, and commonly encountered complications. The advantages and disadvantages of the program are discussed.