Becky Miller, Maine Health Educator, Northern New England Poison Center, has some advice for seniors.

Northern New England Poison Center

MaineHealth, 22 Bramhall Street, Portland, ME 04102

1-800-222-1222 or www.nnepc.org


Who is the Northern New England Poison Center (NNEPC)?

• The NNEPC is part of MaineHealth and located in Portland, Maine.
• The center is a regional center managing calls from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
• The call center is available 24/7 with trained staff (nurses, pharmacists and toxicologists)
• TTY and interpreter services are available 24/7.
• NNEPC receives its funding from federal and state (ME, VT, NH) funds, MaineHealth and various federal and state grants.
• Poison centers are considered part of the health care continuum and are able to share protected health care information with other health care facilities/providers under the HIPAA act.

What type of calls does the center receive?

• Exposure questions: (child ate some medication or piece of a plant, etc)
• Attempted suicide, drug abuse and overdose cases that need further medical intervention in a hospital or by a health care provider (HCP). NNEPC works closely with the hospital or HCP to provide toxicological support (treatment recommendations, faxed information, toxicology consults, etc.)
• Questions about pet exposures
• General information requests such as:
o pill identifications (identify pills by markings on the pill, etc),
o possible medication interactions (example: would like to take a cold medicine with prescribed medicines, etc),
o side effects from medications,
o Environmental questions (lead poisoning, pesticide exposures, carbon monoxide, etc.)
o Emergency preparedness
o General poison prevention questions

Does the NNEPC provide poison prevention education?

• Each state has an educator with dedicated time for providing poison prevention outreach in their respective states.
• Fact sheets, information, and blogs are available on the website at www.nnepc.org
• The center is available 24/7 to answer questions – does not need to be an emergency!
• Newsletter articles/brochures/stickers and magnets - order from the website!
• Presentations (some costs may need to be applied)

Call the Northern New England Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 or visit our website at www.nnepc.org.

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