[Problems introducing a pediatric poisoning treatment set].

Abstract

Between 1995 and 1998 the Berlin poison center conducted a case-control study supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Berlin Medical Association, a health insurance company, and the Berlin Pediatric Society to test the efficacy of a pediatric poisoning treatment set. The aim of the study was to induce parents of small children to call the poison center immediately in cases of unintentional poisonings at home and to administer activated charcoal if advised to do so by the poison center specialist. This was achieved by handling over a so-called "emergency kit" to 24,000 parents during the regular pediatric office check-up when the children were 10-12 months of age. When an accident occurred, parents with an emergency kit at hand were able to give activated charcoal within 14 min compared to 51 min without this aid. Problems arose when attempts were undertaken to introduce the emergency kit into the routine counseling sessions throughout the country: restrictions imposed by the pharmaceutical law, lack of interest shown by pharmaceutical companies, and diverging responsibilities at county and federal political levels and between different health insurance companies have hitherto prevented the realization of this evidence-based method.