Exhibit marks Poison Control Week; national toll-free hotline sought
“The Perils of Poison!” interactive family exhibit, cohosted by the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System (NJPIES) and the Newark (NJ) Museum, the site of the exhibit, was attended by more than 250 people. Among the features of the event, which kicked off the 38th National Poison Prevention Week, was a Poison Risk Scavenger Hunt in which attendees were asked to identify the poisoning risk of given scenarios. In other activities, participants made mock calls to the Poison Center Hotline on a phone simulator and presented questions to “Tox Doc,” Steven Marcus, M.D., executive director of NJPIES.
Other activities commemorating Poison Prevention Week included a first-grade coloring contest and a mass mailing to federal and state legislators, school nurses, community pharmacies, public libraries, hospitals, and local health departments.
The NJPIES also has garnered legislative support of the Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness Act of 1999, which seeks to secure federal funds to stabilize poison centers, establish a single toll-free number that will be shared by all poison centers in the nation, and finance a national campaign to publicize this number and the importance of calling poison centers when poisonings are suspected.
