West Texas Regional Poison Center spreads awareness on Poison Prevention Week
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)—University Medical Center of El Paso is home to the West Texas Regional Poison Center. It's the country’s first 24-hour bilingual poison control center that is certified by America’s Poison Centers.
Dr. Salvador Baeza, the director of the center, explained that poisoning accidents can happen at any moment.
"Poisonings are all around us, and it's just be aware,” he said.
WTRPC is staffed with nurses, pharmacists, and physicians 24/7 who are to answer any poison-related calls.
In 2025, the center received over 33,000 calls.
7,000 calls were from El Paso County.
"We also call you back to see how you're doing. We'll call the ER back to see how their patient is doing to help," he said.
The director explained that 60% of calls involve drugs, including over-the-counter medications, prescriptions, and illicit substances.
Baeza said nearly 50% of all calls involve toddlers and preschoolers. Many of them get into common household items such as medications, cosmetics, and cleaners.
"Even as they get into school age and teenagers, they start experimenting with substances. And again, they're going to start with things that we have in our homes and our medicine cabinets,” he said.
They also receive calls from older adults.
“We have more medical conditions and are on multiple medications. And so it's easy to get confused and make a medication error," he said.
As the temperatures continue to rise, the types of calls also vary.
"We start working on the yard, we'll see more, you know, whether it be pesticides, fertilizers, bites and stings," Baeza added.
He explained that not every case needs to be treated in the ER, and calling the center can save you from an unnecessary trip.
"Nine out of ten times when an accident happens at home, and you call us, we're going to be able to give you the information you need to safely keep you at home.”
You can call the Poison Help Hotline at 1-800-222-1222. For more information, click here.
