Directing Intervention from Afar: The Telephone Dynamics of Managing Acute Poisonings

Based on one year of field research and transcription of over 300 hotline calls, an analysis is offered of the sociological dynamics of managing acute poisonings over the telephone. The analysis examinesfive task-specific problems of poison hotline work: hearing the caller, putting emergencies on hold, visualizing the situation, working through intermediaries, and directing nonexperts in implementing emergency procedures. Poison hotline practice requires medical staffs to assume an orientation that is virtually the opposite of conventional clinical orientations.