The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 23, 1993, REGISTRATION ISSUE, Page 10, Image 10
Poison Con
By RODNEY FOUSHEE
Staff Writer
The phone rings about 3 a.m., and John
Holladay rolls off the worn couch on the
third floor of the Coker Life Sciences
Building. It's Grand Strand General
Hospital. They've got an overdose victim.
"Pump the stomach, watch for vital sign
iiicuigc:*, twjnaKxay Mp. v^oii nit uaciv in
15 minutes."
The female patient has a terrible
headache the next day, but she is alive
thanks to Holladay and the Palmetto Poison
Control Center.
The center, operated from USC's College
of Pharmacy, is the only poison control
resource in South Carolina, said Dr. Brooks
Metis, the center's director. It serves all 46
counties in the state and 13 counties in
Georgia.
The center operates a 24-hour toll-free
telephone line that provides hospitals and
the public with information and treatments
concerning exposure to poisonous substances.
Many calls are emergencies. The
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Thursday, Friday, an<
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itrol Center
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on duty at all times, Metts said.
"We handle about 100 calls a day," Metts
said. These include both information and
actual exposure calls. The center had over
35,000 exposure calls last year. An exposure
is defined as contact with a "questionable"
substance.
USC pharmacy students help answer
phones between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Exposure calls vary from exposure to
industrial chemicals, drug overdoses, gasses
and fumes, and insect and animal bites to
ingestion of medicines, cleaning agents,
personal care products and poisonous plants
and berries. People come in contact with
every imaginable poison, Metts said.
Once an exposure call is logged in, the
person's weight, age and kind of substance
and amount of exposure are determined
from a series of questions and recorded.
The person's address is also recorded in
case they need to be referred to the nearest
hospital, Metts said.
The center has a computer data base,
Poisondex, which allows quick access to
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more than 1,000 books of informatioi
stored on CD-ROM. In seconds, the lates
information on any substance from Rai(
roacn spray to u.a. Army cnemica
weapons is displayed.
Doses, symptoms and complications art
shown. Treatments are also advised. Tht
center also has hundreds more books 01
microfdm as well as an extensive library o
hardcover books.
Once treatment is recommended, the cen
ter might call the person back every 15 min
utes to determine if further action is needed
More than 70 percent of all calls the cente
handles need no further medical attention
Metts said. But Metts' advice is to "call a
soon as any poisoning is suspected," witl
early treatment being crucial.
The service drastically reduces medica
costs in South Carolina and saves lives b}
preventing unnecessary emergency roon
visits for minor cases. However, the servic<
encourages medical treatment for seriou:
cases, Metts said. An average emergenc;
room visit will cost at least $200, he added.
According to Metts, the center receive
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1 more calls from the public than from hospit
tals. The hospital calls are usually more
1 serious but not always, he said.
1 Most of the public calls are from mothers
whose children have taken medicines, Metts
1 said. Children under the age of five account
2 for more than 60 percent of the accidental
t poisonings in the United States.
f They take too many vitamins, too much
cough syrup and other adult medicines that
- taste good, Metts said. Only three ibuprofen
- tablets can be a serious danger to a small
child.
r Children also eat other poisonous materi,
als including household cleaners, houses
plants and even cigarette butts. Three or
i more cigarette butts or a whole cigarette
can lead to nicotine poisoning in children,
1 \ A
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/ The center also receives calls from adults
1 who are exposed to poisons.
2 "People accidentally brush their teeth
s with Preparation-H and rinse their mouth
/ with bleach," Metts said. After answering
calls for more than 15 years, Metts has
s adopted the motto "Why ask why?"
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orry about money too.r
icking at South Carolina
ing, you receive unlimi
and it takes only $100
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and FlexCard II may be used at any Honor or Cirros banking machi
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The center receives quite a few exposures
to snake and spider bites in the summer as
well as jellyfish stings from the beach,
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calls come from pet owners and veterinarians.
Even small doses of human medicines
can harm or kill dogs and other small pets,
said Holladay, a USC graduate student.
The center also serves as a teaching site
for pharmacists such as Holladay and medical
interns and pharmacy undergraduates.
Amy Link, a pharmacy senior, has been
working for the center for a year and a half.
Link and other students gain valuable experience
from answering calls. The center has
helped broaden her understanding of the
need for poison information, Link said.
The center also provides information and
programs for poison prevention such as Mr.
Yuk stickers, a green scowling face placed
on all household chemicals, for children
and pamphlets for adults.
The center can be reached at 1-800-9221117
or in Columbia at 765-7359.
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