A POISON INFORMATION-SERVICE VIA AN AUTOMATED FACSIMILE (FAX) SYSTEM - AN ADJUNCT TO THE OPERATOR-BASED SERVICE

Background: Poison centers are faced with the escalating costs of spec ialist staffing and increased investments in hardware and databases de spite deficit funding, We developed an automated fax information syste m to access poison information from any fax machine without special tr aining or equipment. Methods: We provided a 3-month trial service of t he fax system in conjunction with the regular operator-based service a nd analyzed the fax access log, followed by a questionnaire to the 220 4 affiliate members regarding the use of the fax, Results: A total 657 accesses to the fax system were made, of which 105 (16%) were unsucce ssful; 342 (52%) were made to retrieve the user's manual, 85 (13%) to retrieve the index pages, and 230 (35%) to retrieve documentation on s pecific substances, The most frequently accessed items concerned disc battery ingestion (13.5%), salicylates (10.3%), mamushi viper (7.1%), acetaminophen (5.8%), and sodium hypochlorite (3.8%). The questionnair es were returned by 666 (30.2%) members; 93 (14%) had actually used th e fax system with the average frequency of 1.8 times/user, 63% (59/93) of the respondents considered the service satisfactory, and 33% (31/9 3) said it was somewhat unsatisfactory, Conclusions: The automated fax information system was accepted and handled by users with only minor difficulty. A facsimile information service may have a valuable role i n providing poisoning information and has potential benefits in cases of environmental disasters.