About the Pittsburgh Poison Center

The Pittsburgh Poison Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC was founded in 1971 to address the alarming number of poisonings that involved children in the Pittsburgh region. The Center served southwestern Pennsylvania initially, but soon took a national leadership role among poison centers. By 1978, there were 661 poison centers in the U.S. and there was little consistency between and among the centers. For that reason, the Pittsburgh Poison Center developed the National Poison Center Network (NPCN™).  It established the first quality standards among poison centers, and a network of regional and satellite poison centers throughout the United States. The pioneering work that was done by the Pittsburgh Poison Center in the 70’s helped to provide a foundation for the current network of centers throughout the U.S.

Poison Center Activity

Today, the Pittsburgh Poison Center serves 44 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties and is one of the busiest of the 61 certified poison centers in the country. The Center responds to approximately 150,000 telephone inquiries annually.  Poisoning exposures that involve children less than six years of age constitute 50% of the calls, but the Center manages poisoning issues for people of all age groups. Everyone is at risk of being poisoned.