Arnot Ogden Medical Center – AOMC Poison Prevention Program

Overview

The Arnot Ogden Medical Center (AOMC) Poison Prevention Program empowers young children to take an active role in personal safety through education presented in pre-K, kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. Using a message coordinated through the regional poison prevention center and made age-appropriate through a volunteer-created story, illustration and props, volunteers make more than 250 classroom visits in a six-county, two-state area annually. Through an enthusiastic presentation of a simple message, the volunteers who teach the program aim to leave every child with a lifetime reminder: “If you don’t know what it is, stay away.”

Created at a time when childhood poisoning cases were commonplace in the emergency department at AOMC, the Poison Prevention Program was founded in the hope that the rate of these preventable injuries could be greatly reduced. That goal having been achieved, it thrives with the goal of keeping that annual figure at zero.

Impact

From just 60 presentations covering 1,400 students in 28 schools in 1994, the numbers had more than doubled by 2004. In the most recently completed year (2015-16), 10 volunteer presenters educated more than 5,000 children through 258 presentations in 67 schools. The most significant result of the program is a human one. According to a 1956 article in the Elmira Evening Telegram, Elmira’s two hospitals dealt with, on average, three cases of child poisoning per week. In 2015 and 2016, the three hospitals that make up Arnot Health recorded a grand total of zero childhood poisoning cases for the entire year.

Lessons Learned

In today’s health care environment, the emphasis is on prevention and education. In almost all cases, prevention efforts are aimed at adults, even when the beneficiary is a minor. The AOMC Poison Prevention Program brings the education directly to the decision maker – the child – in a manner specifically geared to his/her maturity and competence. Instead of hoping that the message will trickle down to the child, program leaders are empowering the child to make the correct decision. In addition, armed with this new knowledge, the child teaches others, making parents aware of dangerous situations and likely stopping younger siblings from dangerous encounters.

The message also addresses one of the fundamental challenges of the stickers and drawer locks that were the attempted solutions of earlier decades. Stickers fall off and bottles are thrown away. Different poisons are present at a relative’s house. Cabinets that may be locked at home are open at a neighbor’s house. By adopting a consistent message that can be used in the presence of all poisons, children are given a thought process that applies in each and every case.

Future Goals

The world of poisons changes just as the world of technology does. Today’s most tantalizing items, including detergent pods and e-cigarette flavorings, were unheard of just 20 years ago. More concerning, many of today’s poisons look more and smell more like candy than ever before. Therefore, the program must evolve with the changing times, engaging with local poison control centers to create education to address the latest trends. Furthermore, AOMC looks to continue expanding the program to areas beyond its current geographic footprint, by using retired teachers based on communities outside of its current six-county area.

Contact: Rob Toonkel
Manager, Volunteer Services
Telephone: 607-737-4267
Email: rtoonkel@arnothealth.org