August 19, 2002 — Utahns can find information about poison control a mouse click away at the Utah Poison Control Center’s (UPCC) new Web site: www.uuhsc.utah.edu/poison.

Parents, health professionals and others can check the Web site for everything from poison prevention tips to annual reports that list the numbers and types of calls UPCC has received over the past five years. The site also links to other state and national organizations, such as the Utah Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This new Web site provides one more tool to help guard against accidental poisonings,” said Barbara Insley Crouch, Pharm.D., M.S.P.H., associate professor at the College of Pharmacy and director of the UPCC.

In 2001, the center, part of the University of Utah College of Pharmacy, received 48,485 calls. More than 39,000 calls involved poison exposures, with the remainder being inquiries for information. Salt Lake and Utah counties accounted for about 60 percent of the volume. Statewide, the most calls involved children under age 6, according to the center’s 2001 annual report, which will be posted on the Web site by the end of August.

Along with the Web site, the UPCC earlier this year received a new telephone number that makes it easier than ever to speak with the center’s poison specialists. Anyone in Utah can call the center by dialing 1-800-222-1222. The number is part of a national system that connects callers to the nearest poison control center.