Estonian Experience on Establishment of a Modern National Poison Information Centre: One-year Profile of Phone Calls in 2012

Background: Initiating a National Poisoning Information Centre (PIC) in Estonia took about 12 years of challenging work on research, training and attracting governmental support and funding. In this study we described the establishment process and the profile of phone calls in the first year which the PIC started to be available full time (24h/day 7days/week).  Methods: This was a descriptive retrospective study. Relevant documents from 2000-2012 were reviewed. The documents were categorized into 5 main issues against establishment of PIC. Data of all inquiries related to toxic agent exposures regarding patient’s demographic, intention of poisoning and type of toxic substances in 2012 were collected. The data were reported with frequency and percentage. Results: During establishment process, 386 documents including governmental regulations and contracts, memorandums from meetings, professional e-mails, newspaper articles, interviews, annual reports and program sheets of other poison centres and conference presentations were collected. Funding was provided form PHARE and BTox projects (2000-2003), and government of Estonia (2004-2012). Educational programs were held to train specialists in clinical toxicology and poisoning information to direct the PIC. The active phase of establishment started in 2004; however, the services of PIC became available at the beginning of 2008. In 2012, total number of calls was 1118. 20% of calls were related to general questions about pharmaceuticals and non-toxic agents. 894 calls were related to acute poisoning cases. Most of them (87.9%) were due to accidental poisoning. The most common types of substances responsible for poisoning were pharmaceutical products (30.2%), household products (29.5%) and plant toxins (11.1%). Conclusion: To establish a stable PIC, it is crucial to have a wide range data backbone, clear support and direct funding from the government, assistance from collaborative PICs, active international/domestic collaboration and experienced committed specialists in clinical toxicology. A well-established PIC improves public health surveillance and reduces health-care costs. These effects should be investigated in future studies about the National PIC of Estonia.