El Paso / Texas / United States
Our West Texas Regional Poison Center ( WTRPC ) at Thomason Hospital is Americas First 24-Hour Bilingual Bicultural Regional Poison Center Certified by the American Association of Poison Control Centers ( AAPCC ). Located in El Paso at its host institution, Thomason Hospital, it is the only poison center located directly on the entire 2, 000 mile U.S.-Mexico border. Our center is at the forefront in the development of poison center services and educational programs for its border West Texas service region of 36 counties with 1.4 million inhabitants. Our Mission is to reduce the morbidity, mortality, and costs associated with poisonings through provision of quality care to the citizens of Texas. Our strategy is: to provide immediate response to 1-800-222-1222 telephone inquiries during poisoning emergencies 24 hours a day and to provide educational programs to the general public and healthcare providers in the prevention and management of poisonings. Our Vision is to continue to set the standard for quality as a community healthcare center, providing leadership, integrating a health delivery network which is dedicated to achieving improved health status, exceptional clinical outcomes, customer satisfaction, and value. In partnership with our patients, medical staff, employees, volunteers, and other community providers, we will build upon our clinical strengths to provide a continuum of care which includes health promotion and education, prevention, accessible primary, acute, and after-care services. We are committed to CARE: to serve our Community, to assure Accountability to our stakeholders, to enhance Respect and dignity for all, and to provide Excellence in service in all we do. Our center is an integral part of the Texas Poison Center Network which consists of six Texas regional poison centers in El Paso, Amarillo, Dallas, Galveston, San Antonio, and Temple with the Texas Department of Health and the Texas Advisory Commission on State Emergency Communications. Throughout the State, 8 out of 10 calls to a poison center are safely handled at the callers home under the poison centers direction. This avoids costly ambulance transportation and unnecessary emergency room expenses. Poison centers not only save lives, they save money. Specifically, for every $1 spent on poison center services, communities save between $5 and $8 in unnecessary healthcare costs. The WTRPC has generated $31.8 million in total cost savings since 1995. Our fully bilingual staff, to include Specialists in Poison Information, Medical Director, Director, Educator, and Office Coordinator, is uniquely qualified to provide expert poison information in English and Spanish to families, educators, and health care providers. This is accomplished through our 24-hour poison emergency hotline, case management, and professional and public outreach efforts specifically designed to address the U.S.- Mexico border and West Texas regions unique demographics. The service region is made up of largely rural communities where immediate access to healthcare facilities and providers is limited. The region covers 24% of Texas land mass with only 7% of the States population. Poison prevention and poison management/education programs provide an additional preventive medical service that might otherwise be overlooked. It must be noted that bilingual services in English and Spanish are essential to attain our goals of providing comprehensive poison center services for our citizens. In accordance with 2000 census figures, in the four Texas counties in the West Texas Regional Poison Center ( WTRPC ) region that border Mexico, there are approximately 609, 843 people ( 41.1% of persons 5-17 years old and 49.3% of persons 18 years old and over ) that do not speak English "very well." The need for bilingual ( English-Spanish ) education and poison prevention resources on the border is a health imperative. Our West Texas region is unique in that our daily population levels increas
