Each day, families, hospitals, and healthcare providers turn to UMC’s West Texas Poison Center for help with everything from a curious toddler tasting a household cleaner to a medication overdose to a rattlesnake bite. A new independent national study confirms what we hear on every call: Poison Centers are there for people when they are vulnerable and are an extremely effective and efficient public health investment that saves lives, time, and money for our community.
The report, Poison Prevention, Treatment, and Detection as Public Health Investments, is the result of an independent analysis completed by RAND. The analysis found that U.S. Poison Centers save $3.1 billion every year in medical costs and lost productivity. For every $1 invested in Poison Center services, communities receive an average of $16.77 in benefits by avoiding unnecessary emergency room visits, shortening hospital stays, and reducing the risk of death.
In 2025 the West Texas Poison Center answered over 33,000 calls, including 7,131 from El Paso County. The vast majority (93%) of patients that call us from home or work are safely managed at home and avoid unnecessary utilization of healthcare resources. Many of these instances could have turned into costly and lengthy ER visits if the Poison Center had not been called upon. Instead, our nurses, pharmacists, and physicians helped El Pasoans safely manage their situation at home or guided local clinicians on the most effective treatment.
No one is immune to poisoning.
- Kids act fast! 35% of our patients are toddlers and pre-schoolers involved in accidents at home. Fortunately, with our guidance, over 95% can be safely watched at home.
- We’re here for your senior moment. Medication errors are the #1 reason for calls to the poison center in adults >60 years old.
- We’re the experts your doctors trust. Hospital ERs and ICUs, clinics, first responders, and healthcare professionals from throughout the county routinely call for assistance in managing their potentially poisoned patients. 40% of patients in El Paso County are already in a healthcare facility when the Poison Center is called.
Poisoning remains a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States (Source: CDC). Yet funding for Poison Centers across the country has decreased by 8 percent over the last decade, even as healthcare costs climb and public health threats grow more complex. Sustaining and strengthening this 24/7 safety net is essential for West Texas families. Established as a regional center in 1994, the West Texas Poison Center, which is a part of the Texas Poison Center Network, utilizes state, federal, and local funding to provide poison center services to the state. UMC’s essential in-kind support for the West Texas Poison Center has allowed it to grow and thrive for over three decades.
Behind every statistic is a real person: the parent who can keep a child safely at home instead of waiting hours in an emergency room, the nurse who gets immediate advice on a complex case, and the older adult who prevents a dangerous medication mix-up. These are everyday, preventable emergencies that our poison center responds to around the clock, at no cost to the caller.
Here’s what we want every household in the Borderland to know: if you have a question or concern about a possible poisoning or exposure, call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222 or go to PoisonHelp.org. Poison Help is always fast, free, and confidential, and you will speak directly with medical experts in your community. The West Texas Poison Center is 100% bilingual, so your calls can be directly answered in English and Spanish 24/7. For other languages, interpreter services are available for assistance.
In moments of fear and uncertainty, having a trusted local expert just a phone call away is invaluable for your family’s health and our community’s safety.
For more information about the national study, visit poisoncenters.org/national-impact-study, or to learn more about the West Texas Poison Center visit www.poisoncontrol.org.
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