OPINION: Goodnight, Alaska — looking back at two decades of poison-control help

Twenty-three years ago, I was there when we started Alaska’s first statewide poison center. On June 30, I will sign off at midnight for the last time.

The poison center system in Alaska did not exist in 2001. If you or a family member ingested a substance around the home, you could call your local hospital, and maybe if there was a pharmacist who wasn’t too busy, they would be able to look it up and help you. However, many times, especially in the middle of the night, that was hard to do.

When the Oregon Poison Center was contracted by the state to provide this service, telephone access became a 24 hours per day, every day of the year, a free service to all Alaskans. Our trained nurses answered the phone live, ready to help a concerned parent or a busy emergency department provider through the possibilities of what could happen and what needed to be done. And, when the situation warranted it, our doctors — medical toxicologists — were readily available to speak with the team at any time.

As our relationship with Alaska grew, our team was there for the many community health aides providing medical care in their own villages. We were there for incidents on fishing boats, even arranging the Coast Guard for a rescue flight. We were there for those on military bases and in the mines who came in contact with hazardous material as part of their critical jobs. And we were there for outbreaks of botulism from stink heads, paralytic shellfish poisoning from eating Dogwinkle snails, for children who chewed too much iqmik, and so many others — occurrences that are unique to Alaska and its people. Occurrences we have always been happy to help with.

Starting in July, the Alaska Department of Health has decided to utilize the services of faraway Kansas to provide this service. I am sure there will be some growing pains. But as I think back on all of the times I was able to help Alaskans, about the midnight calls, about the transfers by float plane, about working with a tired community health aide who stayed awake all night watching a child that we both did not want to drift off to sleep… I am glad for this long yet rewarding journey of my career with you.

Equal, if not more so, thanks need to go to my many colleagues at the Oregon Poison Center — doctors, nurses and pharmacists who assisted you and were always available. So, I just wanted to wish you all goodnight, Alaska.

Thanks for calling.

Dr. B. Zane Horowitz, based in Portland, Oregon, is the first medical director of the Alaska Poison System.

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