Poison Control

Poison Control is a great option to utilize if you are working with a caller who have ingested something with the intent to die and you want to encourage the caller to seek medical help. The person may be resistant to going to the hospital. The person who answers the phone at poison control is a physician or pharmacist. This person is trained to assess quickly how the caller is doing and provide expert advice about what to expect.

Tell the caller you are concerned for his safety and would like to check out the effects with Poison Control. Ask the person to hang on while you dial from another line. Use the Conference Call function to connect the caller with Poison Control. This gives you the opportunity to ask for the caller's phone number.

Give Poison Control as much information as you have on the overdose and ask whether the person needs to get to a hospital. Look in your operation's manual for a list of questions to ask a caller in the event of a drug overdose. It is also useful to find out what is likely to happen if the caller does not go to a hospital (e.g., coma, brain damage, etc.) and how much time can elapse before serious damage occurs.

In general, do not encourage a caller to vomit after overdosing. For one thing, you cannot be sure that enough will be expelled to detoxify the dosage. The person also runs the risk of choking on the vomit. Consult Poison Control instead.

Do not allow a person to take themselves to the hospital if they have already ingested something with the intention of self-harm.

Do stay on the phone with caller till police/ambulance has arrived.