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WV Poison Center Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Open House

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In honor of the WV Poison Center’s 40th Anniversary, the organization will hold a “Celebration of Service to West Virginia” on Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at the Poison Center on the fourth floor of the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center building at 3110 MacCorkle Avenue in Charleston.

WVU staff, faculty and students and WVU Physicians of Charleston employees are invited to stop by the WV Poison Center from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on March 18 for the open house which will include displays, Poison Center tours, an “Ask the Medical Toxicologist” consult station, and Poison Prevention material table.

There will be a brief ceremony at 1:00 p.m. recognizing the anniversary of the WV Poison Center with remarks and a cake cutting.

Folks are also welcomed and encouraged to bring their families from 6:00 p.m. to 7 p.m. for an evening open house featuring a poison prevention presentation in recognition of National Poison Prevention Week, March 15-21, 2020.

The WVPC was established in 1979 and is located on the West Virginia University Charleston Division Campus. It was recognized as West Virginia's only poison center in 1986. In that same year, the WVPC became a Certified Regional Poison Center, one of only 55 in the United States. The certification has continued to be granted again and again due to superior work and strict adherence to the guidelines. Funding for the WVPC is provided by WVU Charleston Division, WVU, West Virginia Legislature, member hospitals, grants and donations.

The West Virginia Poison Center (WVPC) staff of nurses, pharmacists, and doctors offers assessment and emergency treatment recommendations on accidental exposures to medications and household substances, plant ingestion, snake, spider and other insect bites and stings, chemical spills, occupational exposures, and drug overdoses for the public and health care professionals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The West Virginia Poison Center serves all 55 counties in West Virginia. This includes: the general public regardless of socio-economic class, infants, children, adolescents, adults and senior citizens, health care professionals in hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. The WVPC also provides treatment information for the pets of West Virginians. The West Virginia Poison Center performs several roles:

  1. A resource center. The WVPC is a source of current information about thousands of harmful products.
  2. A learning center. The WVPC reaches out to people with educational programs for families, day care centers, schools, service clubs and civic groups. The poison center also helps train and update medical professionals about new poison research and treatment.
  3. A community service center. Call the WVPC first when you suspect a poisoning. Our poison specialists will instruct you on how to properly handle the situation at home or to seek immediate medical attention.
  4. An early warning system to alert health care professionals to environmental hazards, new patterns of drug abuse, and problems of drug misuse.
    The poison center is also available to consult with employees and industry leaders faced with the problem of chemical exposure in the workplace.

CALL THE POISON CENTER FOR:

  • Treatment for accidental poisonings.

  • Information on poison prevention.

  • Assistance with a drug overdose.

  • Bites and stings.

  • Adverse reactions to drugs and chemicals.

  • Toxicity caused by drug interactions.

  • Poisonings from drugs of abuse (cocaine, LSD, etc.)

  • Spider and snake bites.

  • Poisoning of animals.

  • Hazardous spill exposures.

  • Occupational exposure to chemicals.

  • Chronic lead poisoning.

  • Toxic/non-toxic plant information.

  • Educational programs for your school or organization.