Thursday, May 22, 2025
5/22/2025
Poison Control Stabilization and Enhancement Program - POPULATION TO BE SERVED: All residents of the state of Missouri. NEEDS: In 2023, 55,436 calls came to the Missouri Poison Center for assistance with an exposure to a drug or poison. The general public requests initial advice about the level of care needed and how to manage at home. Health care professionals need consultation for individualized treatment of a poisoned patient. Toll-free telephone availability of the Poison Center improves access to expert advice for the 1/3 of the population living in rural locations for whom access to health care may be limited. Poison Center service to Missouri’s major metropolitan areas acts to eliminate health disparities by giving options for care of poisoning emergencies other than overcrowded city hospitals to many of the state’s disadvantaged urban populations. Federal funding is necessary to continue to provide 1) The full scope of poison prevention; 2) Case management to decrease the risk of drug and poison exposures, particularly among children and vulnerable people in Medically Underserved Areas; and 3) Poison-Center guided homecare to eliminate the cost and burden of unnecessary ER visits. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The Missouri Poison Center aims to reduce the incidence, morbidity and mortality of poisoning by providing the 6.2 million people of Missouri with poison prevention education and high-quality case management for drug and poison exposures. Specifically: 1) Maintain awareness of poison prevention techniques and the national toll free phone number via the internet and social media as well as by traditional methods of distribution and outreach; 2) Provide treatment advice for toxic exposures to both the general public and to health care professionals that reduces the impact on the patient’s health and averts fatal outcomes; 3) Prevent patient encounters with the health care system by guiding home care when safe to do so; 4) Continuously maintain high-quality operations as evidenced by remaining accredited by the national organization, America’s Poison Centers. PROPOSED SERVICES: Grant funding will be used to assure the salaries of key personnel to carry out day-to-day operations which support project objectives. Positions partially supported by grant funding are Community Outreach Coordinator, Pharmacist-Specialist in Poison Information (SPI), Nurse-SPI, Medical Director, and Project Director. General public callers to the Center will have their cases individually evaluated and managed by a nurse or pharmacist SPI and managed at home if feasible. Health professional callers will be offered comprehensive treatment recommendation for their poisoned patients. Public education will teach the basic strategies of poison prevention and promote the use of the national toll-free number. EVALUATION: 1) Indices of website traffic and social media engagement will demonstrate increasing public interaction electronically. 2) Annual analysis of Poison Center data will show a) Stability in use of the national 800 number; b) Percent of general public callers whose exposure is safely managed at home; c) Provision of individualized advice to the general public and treatment recommendations to health care professionals. 4) Reaccreditation under rigorous criteria will assure high-quality health care practice at the Missouri Poison Center.
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).