Efficient Handling of Poisoning Emergencies

Recently the Committee on Toxicology of the American Medical Association published an excellent report on how the general public should handle a poisoning emergency.¹Fortunately, many of these emergencies involve relatively small amounts of innocuous materials. Occasionally, however, a potentially toxic substance is ingested and prompt medical care is essential. All too frequently this problem has to be treated in hospital emergency rooms by a group of professional people who are occupied in treating many emergency situations of a diverse nature. This report presents information on how one hospital made all the necessary special material for treating poisoning emergencies easily available to the emergency room staff. The Poison Antidote Cart A movable locked cart (see figure) was designed to contain all the necessary therapeutic agents. The table lists all the drugs, apparatus, and books that are routinely kept in the cart. These books are excellent reference textbooks that can