Poisonings can happen to any age group and while we may generally think of the toddlers who put anything and everything into their mouths adults may be poisoning victims too. With small children surgery is sometimes needed to remove the object. According to the Poison Center website, the 2020 statistics lists 55 poison control centers in the US provided telephone guidance to over 2.1 million human poisoning exposures that year.

Poisoning may occur from ingestion, inhalation, skin contact or contact to the eyes. The Poison Control center has specialists on duty 24 hours a day to answer your questions and have a doctor who specializes in poisonings available, if needed for more complicated cases. In my years with the squad, I have been a several calls of adults who were made sick from paint or cleaning fluid vapors. They had closed the door to keep the kids or pets out while they were working.
If you or your family are exposed to a poison, remember the Poison Control number for help: 1-800-222-1222. If the patient is unresponsive or has difficulty breathing call 911 first. Get help on the way. Their website is a treasure trove of information on the subject, from batteries to medications to plants to vapors.
More personnel will be manning our ambulances starting next month. 24h BLS support coverage. The crew will be a mix of volunteer and career staffing. Our volunteer ALS crews will also be staffing as their regular jobs allow. The fire engine is staffed by career personnel.

The Squad thanks you for your support. Visit our website at www.ahvrs.org or find us on Facebook.