Northern New England Poison Center
The Northern New England Poison Center (NNEPC) is a certified regional center serving Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The Center provides fast, accurate information and expert advice to address common poison-related questions and concerns.
How to Reach the NNEPC
Call 1-800-222-1222, toll-free 24 hours a day 7 days a week, confidential. TTY and interpreter service available
Chat Online at www.NNECP.org
Text Poison to 85511
To be prepared for a poison emergency, program the poison center phone number into your phone today.
What is a Poison?
A poison is any substance that can make you sick, cause harmful effects in the body, or kill you. Poisonings can happen to people of all ages. While most poisoning incidents involve children under 6 years of age, adults tend to have more serious health effects or deaths due to poisonings. Medications are the number one cause of poisonings.
How Does Poisoning Occur?
Poisonings can occur in many different ways. Among children, poisonings most often occur after accidental ingestion of a poisonous substance during exploration or play. Adults and teens may be exposed to potential poisons through misuse of household products, chemicals in the environment, attempts to get high and self-harm attempts. Medication errors are another common cause of poisonings in every age group, but are a particular risk among older adults, who tend to take more medications.
Pets can also be poisoned, and many things that are not poisonous to humans can be harmful to animals. The NNEPC does not specialize in animal poisoning but can sometimes help.
Poison Prevention Education Program
The NNEPC has a Vermont educator with dedicated time for providing education around general poison prevention tips, medication safety, drug abuse/misuse, suicide prevention, cannabis, e-cigarettes and vaping, and environmental exposures.
For non-emergencies, contact: Vermont Poison Prevention Educator Gayle Finkelstein, MSN, RN at gayle.finkelstein [at] uvmhealth.org (gayle[dot]finkelstein[at]uvmhealth[dot]org).