Welcome To Taiwan National Poison Control Center (PCC)

        In response to the rapidly increased poisoning incidents in Taiwan, and in line with the international trend, under the auspices of Ministry of Health & Welfare (formerly known as Department of Health, Executive Yuan), Taiwan's first and only national poison control center (PCC) was founded in Taipei Veterans General Hospital in July 1985. Since its establishment, Taiwan PCC has been rotated by a group of health professionals to provide a 24-hour telephone consultation service.

The services provided by Taiwan PCC include the following: assisting the emergent analysis, identification, diagnosis and treatment of various poisonings, providing help in poisoned patients’ referral, and establishing a reporting system for tracking and collective reporting of acute poisoning cases to reduce the waste of medical resources. With the epidemiologic data collected by the PCC and the collaboration with various governmental agencies, PCC has played a significant role in the early warning of acute poisonings in Taiwan. In addition, Taiwan PCC has organized training courses on poisoning prevention and management and hosed internal conference on a regular basis. Taiwan PCC also has a close collaboration with poison control centers in other countries and international experts around the world to learn updated knowledge on the better management of acute poisonings. The goal of Taiwan PCC is to provide prompt and relevant information on the first-aid and specific treatments of various acute and chronic poisonings to both healthcare professionals and the general public.

With the current advances in information technology, Taiwan PCC has started to launch an artificial intelligence-based poisoning consultation system in 2021 to better predict poisoning exposures. It is hoped that through the implementation of the artificial intelligence system, Taiwan PCC can provide better consultation services to both the healthcare professionals and the general public in Taiwan.

 

Our services include:

  1. 24 hours telephone advice services.
  • Providing the management principles related to the toxicity of pesticide poisoning and relevant first aids as well as protection.
  • Management of drug overdose and provision of abstinence therapy for drug addicts
  • Management and analysis of conventional drug abuse and new psychoactive substances abuse
  • Management and provision of toxicity information of accidental poisoning related common household chemicals, such as disinfectants, detergents, and cleaning agents
  • Provision of toxicity information related to accidental inhalation or ingestion of environmental pesticides and rodenticides
  • Provision of the information related to acute and/or chronic effects of industrial chemical exposures
  • Management of occupational diseases related to the long-term exposure to a specific chemical
  • Management of envenomation related to animal or insect bites or stings (e.g., snakebite, fish sting, bee sting or wasp sting) or local and systemic toxicities related to other insects
  • Chinese herbal medicine and poisonous plant poisoning.
  • Questions related to medical treatment of poisoned patients raised by healthcare professionals
  • Provision of the toxicokinetics, toxicodynamics, chemical properties, range of toxicity, and possible clinical manifestations pf various toxicants

 

  1. Antidote supply, control and distribution network

Responsible for purchasing, controlling and distribution of specific antidotes (i.e., physostigmine, cyanide poisoning antidote, and digoxin poisoning antidote)

 

  1. Training of clinical toxicology specialist

Provision of short-term (1 month) or long-term (6 months to 2 years) training

Courses for domestic or international trainees

 

  1. Hosting clinical toxicology training courses and international symposium on a regular basis

 

  1. Toxicological laboratory examinations
  • Routine toxicological and drug analyses
  • Abuse substances (conventional and new psychoactive substances)
  • Heavy metals and other trace elements
  • Agrochemicals
  • Adulterants of Chinese herbal medicine by prescription drugs or heavy metals
  • Toxicological analyses requested by the Justice or Police Departments (i.e., analysis of abuse substances, urine substance abuse analysis, drug-facilitated sexual assault)

 

  1. Development of appropriate assays for new toxicants as needed

 

  1. Continuous promotion of poisoning prevention