Tips to Prevent Poisonings
• Be prepared for an emergency. Keep the national, free Poison Helpline number at your fingertips by saving the number in your mobile phone: 1-800-222-1222. Text POISON to 797979 to save the number in your smartphone.
• Practice safe storage habits. Always store medicines and hazardous substances up, away, and out of sight of children. Keep these substances in their original, child resistant containers.
• Read and follow all labels and directions. Review medicine and product labels before you use them, especially before giving medicine to children.
• Detect invisible threats. Install a carbon monoxide detector in your home.
The Northern New England Poison Center is your source for fast information and expert advice. Whether you’ve taken too much medicine, spilled a chemical on your skin or just have a question, they are there for you. Call, chat or visit their poison index.
Mission
Provide leadership, partnership, and education throughout Maine to reduce and prevent substance misuse, commercial tobacco use, and promote well-being across the lifespan.
Outcomes
The following outcomes are targets measured through the Tobacco and Substance Use Prevention program to be achieved by 2021, not as a percent decrease from the current rate. These are the long-term outcomes that help our state become a healthier Maine. The data sources for most of these outcomes* are two of Maine’s surveillance instruments (BRFSS and MIYHS). Tobacco outcomes are in alignment with, but further, the goals set through Healthy Maine 2020. Alcohol, marijuana and prescription drug abuse results are in alignment with the goals set in the Partnership for Success grant maintained by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services (SAMHS).