About the APIC

The Alabama Poison Information Center at Children's of Alabama—1-800-222-1222

The Alabama Poison Information Center (APIC) has been a long term commitment of Children's of Alabama to the citizenry of Alabama since 1958. The APIC was the 14th center established in the United States, during a time period when serious morbidity and mortality were attributed to poison ingestion in children and adults. Since its inception, the Center engaged in providing the most accurate and rapid poison information to only physicians in the early years and then to both the professional and general public. The APIC has provided 24/7, toll free access of life saving information since 1978. The APIC is a fully accredited poison center by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Throughout the years of dedicating substantial resources to developing a quality professional staff, quality assurance programs, data surveillance and research, 800 number access and state of the art informational resources, the APIC serves the entire State of Alabama as the only accredited statewide center by the Alabama Department of Public Health. The center handles greater than 50,000 poison calls per year, plus greater than 60,000 follow-up calls. A vital component of this quality professional service is a statewide educational program designed to heighten public and professional awareness of the center, to inform parents and caregivers of the best preventive actions, and to provide continuing education for healthcare professionals on the assessment, triage and management of poisoned patients. Advanced Hazmat Life Support courses, grand rounds on topics in clinical toxicology, medical toxicology consultations and other educational/clinical services are provided. Special emphasis is placed upon providing such education and service to rural, traditionally underserved areas of the state. In fact, over the last 15 years, the APIC has teamed with Healthy Child Care Alabama, a statewide network of public health nurses who are assigned counties in the state to provide preventive health education. The collaboration has resulted in significant increases in the awareness of rural area citizens. The work in primary prevention continues to be an integral component of our center and augments the effectiveness of the informational services provided.

Center staff include nurse and pharmacist specialists in poison information (certified by national examination and sponsored by the American Association of Poison Control Centers). The management team includes a doctoral credentialed clinical toxicologist and medical directors credentialed in emergency medicine, pediatrics, and toxicology. Advanced level consultation is available from this team beyond the initial level of contact to our center staff. Such consultation is provided on a 24/7 basis.