Monday, December 9, 2024
12/9/2024
DESCRIPTION OF GRANT PROJECT: Unintentional poisoning is a leading cause of injury and hospitalization, particularly in children ages 1 - 4 years old. With immediate assessment by a poison center, most of these poisonings can be safely treated at home, avoiding unnecessary trauma and expense of ambulance transport and emergency department treatment. Poison centers provide immediate, toll-free telephone advice to callers concerning acute and chronic poisonings, but tenuous funding has forced poison centers to reduce services. This grant project is designed to support the services of the Virginia Poison Center (VPC). NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED: Grant funding will be used to support and enhance services provided by the VPC. The goals of this project are to support efforts to prevent unintentional poisonings, provide timely and accurate poison information to the public and healthcare providers within our service region, and to maintain accreditation as a regional poison center. PROPOSED SERVICES: 1) provide poison prevention outreach to the residents of our service area; 2) target distribution of poison prevention materials to at-risk populations; and 3) ensure adequate staffing to effectively triage emergency calls and provide quality treatment recommendations. Effectiveness of services will be evaluated by analysis of outreach efforts, utilization of the nationwide toll free number for poison control, incoming call metrics, caller type and location, calls per poison specialist FTE, and audits of treatment recommendations. POPULATIONS SERVED: The Virginia Poison Center serves all Virginians (healthcare providers and the general public) in the central and eastern portions of the state. Services are delivered to patients of all ages, from infants to elderly. Since approximately 40% of acute poisonings reported to poison centers occur in children less than six years of age, many poison prevention efforts target children and adults who care for them. In addition, one of the goals of the VPC is to effectively serve all areas within our service region. In Virginia, there are 69 cities and counties (or parts thereof) that meet the Federal definition of health profession shortage area (HPSA), and 43 cities and counties designated as Virginia medically underserved areas (VMUA). Portions of these areas served by the VPC are on the Eastern Shore, Northern Neck, and Southside Virginia. All of these locales are targets of outreach efforts, and calls are received from all of these counties. Key Words: Poisons; Poison Control; Injury Prevention; Injuries; Information Services; Training, Unintentional injuries.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
