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| New Mexico Poison Center Receives Grant to Fund Statewide Education & Prevention Programs |
August 14, 2001 |
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| Albuquerque, New Mexico —Congresswoman Heather Wilson is pleased to announce that the New Mexico Poison Center has received a grant for $89,223 from the Department of Health and Human Services. The funding is the result of legislation supported by Congresswoman Wilson and enacted into law last year that authorized $140 million over the next five years for poison control centers across the country.
“The New Mexico Poison Center provides a vital service to our community,” said Wilson. “For every $1 spent on poison control centers, $7 is saved by preventing unnecessary, costly trips to emergency rooms and doctors.”
Specifically, the grant will help to fund three major needs at the Poison Center. The funding will help support statewide education and poison prevention programs in elementary schools and throughout the community. The grant will also allow the center to replace out dated computer equipment. Finally the funding will be used to establish a Board of Advisors to help the Poison Center find alternative funding streams to prevent future shortfalls in their annual budget.
Since 1977, the Poison Center has been serving thousands of New Mexicans every year. Associated with the College of Pharmacy at the University of New Mexico, the center provides assessment and emergency treatment advice on drug overdoses, accidental exposures to medications and household substances, chemical spills, industrial exposures, smoke inhalation, food poisoning, pesticide exposures, snake, spider and insect bites or stings and plant and mushroom ingestions. The Center also offers information on drug product identifications and drug information. This service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Poison Center Also provides professional and public education across the state.
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