Poison center staff are ready ‘when the unexpected happens’
Annual Poison Prevention Week is March 16-22
Each time the phone rings, the conversation begins “North Texas Poison Center, this is Arpan, how can I help you?” Listening to the frantic caller, Arpan calmly asks how they’re feeling now while offering a reassuring message that, in this case dealt with boric acid. “There shouldn’t be any long-term effects,” he says. “Just make sure to stay hydrated and add a few extra glasses of water to what you normally have.”
It's the second boric acid call he’s taken just hours into his shift, noting that some people on TikTok have falsely suggested that adding a pinch of it to their water could reduce inflammation and help with joint pain, or that soaking in borax in the bathtub could “detoxify” the body. Several influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok recommended borax in videos that have since been taken down.
In total, Arpan Patel, MD, a Certified Poison Information Specialist in the North Texas Poison Center (NTPC) housed a Parkland Health will answer more than 40 calls during his 13-hour shift. While the majority of calls last just a few minutes, they have a profound impact for the person on the other end of the line.
“We receive all types of calls ranging from parents whose child has ingested something, to school nurses regarding students, physicians and hospital emergency department staff with a poison question,” Dr. Patel said. “And then there are the seasonal calls that come in.”
Poison centers receive increased calls related to plant ingestions during spring and summer (like berries and mushrooms), insect bites and stings in warmer months, exposures to pesticides and cleaning products during gardening season, holiday-related exposures like ingestion of decorative items (like poinsettias) or certain foods, and wintertime concerns like antifreeze exposure or carbon monoxide poisoning.
“And pretty soon we’ll start getting calls about snakes,” Dr. Patel said. “When it starts getting warmer toward the end of March is when we receive calls about copperheads.”
In 2024, 83% of exposures involved someone who swallowed a substance. However, people also call when there is an exposure through the lungs, skin, eyes, and in other ways.
Poison Prevention Week (March 16-22) serves as a nationwide reminder of the life-saving work poison centers do every hour of every day.
“This observance highlights the critical role of poison centers, not just in emergencies but in education and prevention,” says Lizbeth Petty, MPH, Public Health Educator Manager at NTPC. “Our goal is to reduce poison-related incidents and make sure people know we’re here 24/7.”
This year’s theme: “When the unexpected happens, Poison Help is here for you.”
With 55 poison centers nationwide, help is always just a phone call away. Anyone, anywhere in the U.S. can dial 1-800-222-1222 to be connected with a poison specialist.
In 2024, NTPC staff responded to 78,834 calls across multiple counties. Of those, 73% were single substance exposures, 2% resulted in serious outcomes, 0.04% (21) resulted in death. In addition, 51% occurred in a residence, 65% were managed on site, and 24% cases originated from a healthcare facility.
The six poison centers across Texas managed 238,634 cases via telephone in 2024, and about 75% of those were about people coming into contact with potentially dangerous substances, Petty noted. “These types of cases are called human exposures.” In 2024, young children under 6 years old accounted for almost half of all human exposures managed by poison centers in Texas.
No two days are alike for Dr. Patel and his NTPC colleagues. “There are some days that are extremely busy and that can drain you,” he said. “But the best part of the job is the instant gratification you receive because you’ve been able to help someone on the other end of the line.”
For more information about the North Texas Poison Center, visit www.poisoncontrol.org. To find out about services at Parkland, go to www.parklandhealth.org.
Back