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Listener discretion is advised. Some of the topics in this episode include children putting weird things in their mouths and poisonings.

Today\u2019s episode is an interview with Angel Bivens.\xa0 Angel is a pharmacist by training.\xa0 She has experience in retail, hospital, home infusion, and mail order pharmacy, but her true passion is working at the Maryland Poison Center (MPC). The Maryland Poison Center is part of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.\xa0

Angel has been with the Maryland Poison Center for over 25 years.\xa0 She spent the first 8 years as a specialist in poison information managing poisoning and overdose cases from the public and healthcare professionals.\xa0 Then, She spent the next 17 years in the role of public education coordinator, ensuring the more than 4 million Marylanders in the MPC service area know about their services and learn ways to keep their families safe from poison dangers in an around their home. Now an assistant director, Angel oversees operations and public education. \xa0 When she started this role in 2018, she combined her love for educating the public with responsibilities that ensure there is always someone there to help with a poisoning or overdose 24/7/365.

Angel completed her BS in Pharmacy at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh PA) and her MBA at University of Baltimore (Baltimore MD). She also holds the designation of Certified Specialist in Poison Information (CSPI) after successfully completing the American Association of Poison Control Centers certification examination in 1990, 1998, 2005, 2012, and 2019.

For more information

Angel LinkedIn: angelbivens

Maryland Poison Center website: www.mdpoison.com

To find your local poison center: www.aapcc.org

Resources for pharmacists and their patients:

Poison Prevention Press: http://bit.ly/PoisonPrevPress
One-page, plain language e-newsletter published every other month on varying topics; all current and previous issues available

Poison Prevention Press sign up: http://bit.ly/MPCSignUp

eAntidote Blog: blog.mdpoison.com

Facebook: MarylandPoisonCenter

Twitter: @MDPoisonCtr

YouTube: Maryland Poison Center

Resources with clinical information for pharmacists:\xa0

ToxTidbits:\xa0 http://bit.ly/ToxTidbits
One-page clinical e-newsletter published monthly on various toxicologic topics; all current and previous issues available

ToxTidbits sign up: http://bit.ly/TTBSignUp

Twitter: @MPCToxtidbits

Highlights from the interview

Angel wore many hats over her years at the Maryland Poison Center.\xa0 As a Poison Center Specialist, she managed poisonings and overdoses.\xa0 As a Poison Center Educator, she educated the public and created educational materials.\xa0 As an Assistant Director, she improves the visability of the poison center and forms partnerships in the community.

As a pharmacy student, Angel loved toxicology.\xa0 As a young pharmacist, she heard about an opening at the MPC, applied, and got the job right away. \xa0

Pharmacists, nurses, and doctors staff most poison centers.\xa0 Poison Center job applicants need to match the Center\u2019s needs.\xa0 In general, a PharmD with experience is required for pharmacist applicants.\xa0 No additional residency or certification is needed. \xa0

Once hired, on-the-job training is extensive.\xa0 It can take at least 3 months before a pharmacist is ready to manage cases independently after training.\xa0 After managing 2,500 human exposure calls, pharmacists are required to sit for the CSPI Exam to become a Certified Specialist in Poison Information.

What resources do poison specialists use most often?\xa0 Angel said, the poison center staff\u2019s experience and knowledge base is a great resource!\xa0 Because they manage 2,000-5,500 calls/year, they learn a lot.\xa0 Over many years, that knowledge base is big!\xa0 Other resources include Poisondex,\xa0 Gold-Franks Toxicologic Emergencies, Lange:\xa0 Poisonings and Overdoses, online journals, and consultants (medical and clinical toxicologists).\xa0

Angel told a memorable story about a call she answered from a teenager who OD\u2019ed on aspirin.\xa0 Back in the day, the poison center traced the call and called an ambulance.\xa0 The patient got treatment and survived.\xa0

The best way for anyone to contact the poison center is 1-800-222-1222.\xa0 It\u2019s a \u201csmart phone number\u201d and directs you to the nearest poison center geographically.\xa0 Poison Centers work together, so cases are seamlessly transferred to local poison centers assigned to your area.\xa0 It even works on US cell phones outside the US.\xa0 Calls are triaged, but all are managed. \xa0

There\u2019s no such thing as the \u201cbusiest day of the year,\u201d but on July 4 and Halloween, there are lots of calls related to glow sticks.

Poison centers field calls from a variety of callers:\xa0 fire, EMS, parents of kids of all ages, children of elderly parents, grandparents raising grandchildren, Emergency Centers, critical care teams, pharmacists, and more.\xa0 Reasons pharmacists call poison centers:\xa0 Drug ID, drug-drug interactions, drug-supplement interactions, and non-medicine ingestions. \xa0

Angel says that knowing you\u2019re actually helping someone is a great feeling.\xa0 It\u2019s very rewarding.

Angel knew it was time to change hats from poison specialist to educator when her young son wanted her to be home when he was home.\xa0 Becoming an educator helped her have a more consistent schedule, mostly M-F on day shift.\xa0 She used her marketing and communication skills as an educator.\xa0 Plus, her MBA qualified her for the role.

Angel educates pharmacy students, medical students, paramedics, and more.\xa0 MPC has a robust educational program, so she can sit in and listen to the toxicologist talk about cases. \xa0

The most unusual call Angel fielded was about a goat who ate something the owner thought the goat should not have eaten.\xa0 Her database has some information about animals, but Poison Centers focus on humans.\xa0 Angel gave the goat owner two phone numbers for animal poison centers, and the goat\u2019s owner was happy to try those.\xa0 I mentioned that this story reminded me of the children\u2019s book Gregory the Terrible Eater.

One of the biggest challenges poison specialists face is managing oddball cases.\xa0 New things don\u2019t have a lot of literature to research.\xa0 Sometimes, poison specialists need to consult with clinical toxicologists for oddball calls.\xa0 Plus, the phones keep ringing while trying to manage oddball cases; that\u2019s a challenge too.\xa0 As an educator, a challenge is reaching people.\xa0 As an Assistant Director, a challenge is getting the phones staffed.\xa0 It\u2019s also a challenge to get people to call vs using Google.\xa0 Angel urges everyone to get the right answer right away from a trained poison specialist.\xa0 Call a Poison Center 1-800-222-1222.\xa0 Taking the time to look at Google and sort through search results might be misleading and delay treatment.\xa0 Poison Centers make follow-up calls for exposures. \xa0

Poisonings can happen to anyone.\xa0 Parents who work at poison centers have also had to call.\xa0 It can happen to anybody. \xa0

Angel said that the best things about working at the poison center are helping people and the variety of exposure cases.\xa0 Poison specialists don\u2019t get bored.\xa0 She likes to learn about new drugs, chemicals, TikTok videos, and things on the news, like \u201cchallenges.\u201d \xa0

One thing people don\u2019t realize about working at a poison center is that pharmacists, nurses, and others answer calls and respond without a script. \xa0

Over the years, Angel has worked different schedules.\xa0 As a poison specialist, it varied.\xa0 Present day, shifts on weekdays are 12 hours in length; weekend shifts are 10-hour shifts.\xa0 Midnight-shift pharmacists work 7-on/7-off.\xa0 Poison Specialists work holidays too.\xa0 As an educator, she worked mostly days, but she worked some evenings and weekends for programs too.\xa0 As an Assistant Director, Angel works typical administration hours.

Poison Prevention Week is March 21-27, 2021, to raise awareness about poisonings.\xa0 According to the AAPCC\u2019s website, the third full week in March each year is National Poison Prevention Week (NPPW), a week dedicated to raising awareness to poison control centers and the Poison Help Hotline (1-800-222-1222).

How can pharmacists get involved?\xa0 Visit aapcc.org or reach out to your local poison center and ask to speak to the educator.\xa0 Call 1-800-222-1222 to get in touch with the educator at the poison center.\xa0 Pharmacists can set up a table with resources.\xa0 Some poison centers are looking for volunteers.\xa0 Ask educator how you can get materials:\xa0 stickers, magnets, and brochures. \xa0