The use of poison prevention and education strategies to enhance the awareness of the poison information center and to prevent accidental pediatric poisonings.

Poison information centers have traditionally served two major functions: the dissemination of poison information and poison prevention education. These functions facilitate the ultimate missions of the poison information centers which are to prevent accidental poisonings and to decrease morbidity and mortality associated with toxic exposures. Education must be directed at the potential and actual consumers of poison information centers services to prevent poisonings and to create awareness of how to use the poison information centers in the event of accidental or intentional poisoning. The target population can be identified from poison center statistics generated by the American Association of Poison Control Centers Toxic Exposure Surveillance System which define patient and caller demographics. Analysis of American Association of Poison Control Centers Toxic Exposure Surveillance System for ten years was used to identify the ten most common and ten most lethal poisons. This information indicates the most appropriate topics for education. These data also provide direction regarding poison center penetrance into specific geographic regions and identifies special needs of those individuals. Poison information centers are very costly to operate and the utilization of epidemiologic data can help to direct education efforts in the most cost-effective fashion.