Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
North Carolina Poison Control (NCPC) provides triage, diagnosis, and treatment services for poisonings to all residents, visitors, and healthcare providers in North Carolina. NCPC manages between 75,000 and 80,000 poisoning cases annually, mostly by phone, and is the third busiest poison center in the U.S. It assists the lay public with both pediatric and adult poisoning exposures and provides toxicology consult services to healthcare providers throughout the state who are managing patients in medical facilities. To manage the wide array of poisoning exposures which occur to persons of every age and background, NCPC maintains a team of highly trained medical professionals, including Medical Toxicologists, Pharmacist Toxicologists, Clinical Managers, and Specialists in Poison Information, who are either nurses or pharmacists. Clinical staff also train nurse, pharmacist, and physician students and residents from multiple NC schools and healthcare institutions. Additionally, NCPC maintains administrative staff, such as a Director, Manager of Communications, and Quality Assurance staff to ensure patient management standards are met or exceeded. NCPC also collaborates with multiple state agencies, such as the Public Health Preparedness and Response Program, the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, the State Epidemiologist, and many more to answer temporary phone lines during pandemics and other all-hazards events and to mitigate the effects of public health events, like chemical spills, radiation leaks, and tainted fentanyl overdoses. NCPC also develops prevention programs and materials and maintains an informative website where people can also reach our nurses or pharmacists via online chat. Federal funding is crucial to maintaining NC Poison Control's no-cost services and to maintain the services of the other 54 U.S. poison centers which are available 24/7/365 across the country.
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).
