We’ve been here for over 50 years.

The very first “poison center” in the US began in the 1950s and consisted of a half-time secretary located at the American Academy of Pediatrics in Chicago. She called all of the area hospitals regularly to find out what the kids in the emergency room had eaten or drunk. She would then contact the manufacturers to try to ascertain what was in the product; this was no easy task given there were no regulations with regards to ingredient lists at the time. This information was given to a panel of medical professionals who added their treatment recommendations. All of this information was then typed onto index cards, one for each product, and kept on the secretary’s desk. As medical professionals called, the secretary would read off what was printed on the cards.

Soon after this began, the US Surgeon General came to Chicago for a tour and was shown this new, innovative program. He thought it was such a good idea that he had the 1,000 index cards mimeographed and sent to health departments all across the US, which initiated the creation of poison centers in every state.

In Washington state, the first poison centers were established when representatives of several associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Washington State Department of Health and the University of Washington, agreed to initiate two programs – one at the University of Washington and the other in Spokane in 1956. The poison center at the University of Washington moved three months later to Children’s Hospital in Seattle where it could provide around-the-clock assistance. The Spokane unit was opened at Deaconess Hospital and operated there for nearly 40 years.

Within several years, other programs developed, so that by the late 1960’s, sixteen poison centers covered the state. By the latter part of the 1970’s, however, economic pressure forced a number of the centers to close. An agreement was then reached to limit the number of poison centers to four. During the 1980’s, the four units operated in Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle, Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane, Mary Bridge Children’s Medical Center in Tacoma and Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in Yakima.

In the early 1990’s, economic issues again threatened the operation of the poison centers. In 1993, with strong support from the state legislature and the Department of Health, the four poison centers were consolidated into a single facility serving the entire state of Washington. The new Washington Poison Center was incorporated in February 1994 and was designed to be a public-private partnership, with the legislature agreeing to fund the core operating budget through a contract with the Department of Health and asking the private sector to provide the funds necessary to fully operate the center.

The federal government became involved in 2000 through the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in two ways. First, they worked with the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) to establish 1-800-222-1222, a single, toll-free number for the entire country that, when dialed, would connect you with the poison center covering your calling area. Second, they allocated grant monies to help financially stabilize poison centers across the nation, including the WPC.

Mr. Yuk

Mr. Yuk has been a symbol of poison prevention in Washington State since 1973. For more on his history click here.