A DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE SPECIALIST IN POISON INFORMATION

In 1983 the first certification examination was administered to Specia lists in Poison Information (SPI). This marked the first attempt to va lidate the status of professionals working in poison centers as a sepa rate entity in the field of medicine and toxicology. Not all specialis ts are certified, therefore the process characterizes only a portion o f those currently practicing. To establish a demographic profile of al l SPI's currently practicing in poison centers, a questionnaire was de veloped and sent to all SPI utilizing the American Association of Pois on Control Center's (AAPCC) mailing list. A 57-response survey encompa ssing a variety of topics affecting SPI's was developed and mailed to 607 currently practicing SPI's (288 Certified SPI's and 319 SPI's). Am ong the requested information were demographics such as age, education al degrees, years worked at the poison center, and percent of time spe nt answering poison calls. SPI's were also asked to identify whether t heir center was certified. Responses were then tabulated and analyzed. One-hundred eighty-three surveys were completed and returned. One-hun dred twenty-nine (70%) were Certified SPI's and 54 (30%) were not, alt hough 11 had taken the examination unsuccessfully. Fifty and three-ten ths percent of the respondents had worked 1-5 y at a poison center, 35 % 5-10 y and 14.7% had greater than 10 y experience. Fifty-six and thr ee-tenths were nurses, 36.1% pharmacists, and 7.6% were classified as ''other''. This category included MD's, EMT's and those having educati onal degrees other than the aforementioned. Twenty percent of responde nts answered poison calls a mean of 41.3% (R=1-50%) of their time, whi le 80% spent a mean of 88.3% (R=50-100%) of their time on the phones. At non-certified centers 67.1% managed poison calls 100% of their time compared to 84.7% at regional centers. Ninety-two and five-tenths per cent of those working in poison centers 2-7 y passed the certification examination while 7.5% failed. The majority of SPI's (62.3%) were age s 31-40 and 21% are male, 55.7% female (23.3% did not specify). The ma jority of those currently working in poison centers are female nurses between the ages of 31-40. The retention of SPI's dropped drastically after 10 y from 85.3% to 14.7%. A demographic profile of SPI's contrib utes to a better understanding of those currently practicing in poison centers in relation to employment longevity and also stereotypical ro le characteristics.