A poison center is an emergency telephone service. Call right away if someone may have been poisoned or if you have questions about poisons.  When you call this number, you talk to specially trained nurses, pharmacists, and doctors.  All are there to provide emergency treatment advice for all kinds of poison exposures, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  They also answer questions about poison prevention, and how to poison proof your home.  All services are free and confidential. 

When health care providers need information about treating poisonings, they also call .

There are currently 61 poison centers in the United States. When you call a poison center for a poison emergency, the experts there can usually take care of you right over the phone. You can reach the poison center closest to you by calling .

Poison Centers protect consumers by identifying hazards early.  Poison Center data are the basis for product reformulation, repackaging or recall.  Without this surveillance, children will be needlessly injured, especially by newly marketed toxic products.