The National Capital Poison Center, founded in 1980, is an independent, private, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and an accredited poison center. Its nurse and pharmacist Certified Specialists in Poison Information provide 24/7 telephone guidance for poison emergencies, free of charge. It also provides online guidance for poison emergencies through the webPOISONCONTROL tool (www.webpoisoncontrol.org), health professional education in toxicology, and poisoning prevention education. Service focuses on the metro DC area with a national scope for projects such as webPOISONCONTROL and The Poison Post® (www.poison.org/the-poison-post). The mission of National Capital Poison Center is to prevent poisonings, save lives, and limit injury from poisoning. In addition to saving lives, Poison Control decreases health care costs for poisoning cases. In 2015, the 55 U.S. poison control centers provided telephone guidance for nearly 2.2 million human poison exposures.
