In 25 years, Spectrum Health Regional Poison Center staff members have saved lives, handled about 900,000 calls, fought to remove a deadly poison from homes, and logged more than a few strange cases. The Center was part of Blodgett Memorial Medical Center and was included in the 1997 hospital merger with Butterworth Hospital to become Spectrum Health. Poison Prevention Specialists specially trained registered nurses staff Center phones 24 hours a day, handling an average of 128 calls a far cry from the 20 calls in the beginning. Three of those specialists have each fielded over 50,000 exposure calls since the Center opened. Their experience and ability in calming and helping distraught callers is phenomenal.
Staff answer almost two and half times as many exposure calls as information calls.
Calls to the Center actually save healthcare dollars, Trestrail said. Research has shown that for every dollar spent to run a poison center, you save eight by people avoiding trips to the emergency department or doctor s office. Trestrail is proud of the impact the Center has made during its 25 years. His staff was active in the development of legislation that created the state s poison center system in 1979. He also says a 1989 national ban on arsenic in ant poison was a shining moment in the Center s history and work.