Calling the Poison Center Could Prevent Many ER Visits For Young Kids

About 65% of young children brought to New Jersey emergency departments for suspected poisoning probably didn’t need emergency care and could have stayed home if their families had called poison control before rushing to the hospital, according to Rutgers researchers.

Their study in Clinical Toxicology reviewed 348 cases involving children younger than 6 who arrived at New Jersey emergency departments after a suspected poison exposure. The study only included children whose caregivers had not called the New Jersey Poison Control Center first or been sent to the hospital by a physician, an urgent care center, a 911 dispatcher or an emergency medical crew. 

When toxicologists reviewed those cases, using only information that could have been shared over the phone before the visit, they concluded that 38% of the children definitely didn’t require emergency evaluation, and another 27% likely didn’t.

The finding closely mirrors a 1983 study that judged 63% of similar visits unnecessary and shows that four decades of poison center availability haven’t solved a persistent awareness problem, the researchers said.

“A big takeaway from the paper is that more needs to be done to make sure parents, schools and communities know the poison center is a resource they can turn to when a poisoning is suspected,” said Liam McLoughlin, lead author who conducted the research at the New Jersey Poison Control Center before beginning an emergency medicine residency at New York University.

“The poison center is available 24/7, 365, and is staffed by amazing people who can provide life-saving information by phone at no cost,” he added. “A quick call could save huge amounts of time, money and stress while also easing pressure on a busy emergency department.”

A 2008 analysis estimated the average hospital bill for a pediatric poisoning visit at more than $1,000. The researchers calculated that routing avoidable cases to the phone line could save millions of dollars nationally each year.

A recent RAND study, moreover, found that for every dollar invested in poison center services, communities receive $16.77 in benefits through reduced emergency department use, shortened hospital stays, decreased mortality risk, enhanced public health surveillance and improved patient outcomes.

McLoughlin and colleagues drew on 1,436 cases reported to the New Jersey Poison Control Center from emergency departments throughout the state in 2022, all involving unintentional exposures in children under 6 whose families hadn’t called the center before arriving. From those, 348 randomly selected cases were independently reviewed by two toxicologists. Based on the child’s age, the suspected substance involved and a brief description of the incident, they assessed whether emergency department evaluation was needed.

Many of the visits involved children who had swallowed substances that weren’t toxic or could safely be monitored at home, McLoughlin said. The presence of symptoms such as fever or vomiting was the only factor that significantly increased reviewers’ concern.

McLoughlin said healthcare providers should routinely share the poison center number with families, noting that emergency physicians themselves call it regularly for guidance.

“Don’t rely on online searches or AI-generated answers,” he said. “Trust the poison center experts standing by. Help is just a phone call away.” 

“Every day, lives are protected because expert help is only a call away,” said senior study author Diane Calello, executive and medical director of the New Jersey Poison Control Center at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “For New Jerseyans, our poison control center is more than a hotline. It’s a lifeline.”

Parents whose child is unresponsive or having difficulty breathing should call 911, he said. In all other suspected poisonings, families anywhere in the United States can reach their local poison center at 1-800-222-1222, free of charge at any hour.