Poison Control System Faces Closure

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California's Poison Control System is on life support. The 24-7 operation lost half of its funding in the new state budget, and poison control officials say if they don't find an additional $6 million soon, the system will have to close. Reporter: Kenny Goldberg

1-800-222-1221. No matter where you live, if you don’t have this number written down by your phone, go do it NOW. I’ll wait…. I had a bit of a scare the other night that ended in a call to the Poison Control Hotline. I felt like an idiot calling them over what was likely a false alarm. I came away glad that I called. Coincidentally, NPR reported the next day how vital the 24-7 poison control service is to consumers, emergency rooms AND law enforcement, but since the California has slashed half of the funding for Poison Control in our state, the service may shut down in November. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

In fact, Poison Control is one of the best public healthcare cost reducers available. According to NPR, every $1 spent on the hotline saves $7 in government healthcare costs. 20% of calls to Poison Control are from hospital emergency rooms, and another 5% are from law enforcement. Doctors call the hotline to quickly determine proper dosages for antidotes they use infrequently or to triage minor cases (like a child ingesting part of a poinsettia leaf – how much is toxic?). Police officers call to identify prescription drugs and other substances found on suspects.

My story: I had grabbed an old metal ice cream scoop out of a drawer – the kind with anti-freeze in the handle – and scooped some (fake) chocolate ice cream into a cup. I was so intent on getting a chocolate fix, it didn’t register that the scoop handle was oily until I’d already filled my cup and started eating.

I can’t eat real ice cream anymore, so I’m often on the lookout for decent fake stuff. I point this out because I’d nearly finished before I realized I was tasting more than the general disappointment of eating fake chocolate ice cream. Under the carob, I detected an off flavor that evoked a childhood memory of band-aids and Obtundia anti-bacterial ointment. ICK. I could also smell it on my hand – and the ice cream scoop still had some of clear viscous substance on the handle. Then came the “A-HA!” moment when I realized that I might have just ingested anti-freeze.

Did I call Poison Control right away? Nooooo. I didn’t want to be ridiculed for stupidity. I’m blonde, but I hate playing into the stereotype. So instead, I did a web search on anti-freeze. I even ended up on the poison control website. Everything I read said that ingesting even a small amount of anti-freeze can do permanent organ damage if you wait too long to be checked out (ACK!). But I knew anti-freeze also tastes sweet, not nasty, which is why kids and dogs often accidentally ingest it, so I still wasn’t sure if I was in danger.

After vacillating, I called and spoke to one of the nurses and pharmacists who staff the line. She was non-judgmental and incredibly sympathetic as she asked me questions about the substance and the scoop while searching her database. In the end, she was able to tell me that I probably had an ice cream scoop from Crate & Barrel who stopped using anti-freeze ten years ago. The level of detail the hotline operator had in her database was way beyond what can be found easily on the web. But the web searches may be what we’re left with if the California can’t get its act together or get federal matching funds to keep the Poison Control System running. Parents especially should be concerned about the shuttering of the service, but loss of the Poison Contol hotline effects all tax payers.

The hotline number (800-222-1221) is the same in most states, but I guarantee you won't remember it when you need to make the call. So did you post the phone number next to your phone? Better yet, go put it on speed dial.