BDH Raises Awareness of Personnel on Poisoning
By: Melanie Holt | Photo By: GPC-BDH | Date: June 24, 2019
RESPONSIVENESS IN POISONING. Dr. Sherwin dela Cruz, resource person and internal medicine specialist of Bacnotan District Hospital (BDH) imparts his expertise about poison to BDH personnel on June 24, 2019. This activity is part of the National Poison Prevention Week Celebration.
As part of the National Poison Prevention Week, Dr. Sherwin dela Cruz, resource person and internal medicine specialist of Bacnotan District Hospital (BDH), imparted his expertise about toxicology to BDH personnel on June 24, 2019.
Specifically he taught the hospital personnel of the first steps in addressing poison ingestion. Determining the age and size of the victim, what was swallowed, how much was swallowed, and when it was swallowed were the first information to gather according to Dr. dela Cruz. Furthermore, he advised the checking of the safety of the area, responsiveness of the victim, and how to call for help when encountering such situation outside the hospital.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), poisoning occurs when people drink, eat, breathe, inject, or touch enough of a hazardous substance (poison) to cause illness or death. Some poisons can cause illness or injury in very small amounts. Illness may occur very quickly after exposure to a poison, or it may develop over several years with long-term exposure.
As stated in the Presidential Proclamation No. 1777, s. 2009, mortality reaches 2% among those admitted for poisoning which are preventable. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to increase awareness on the preventive aspects of poisoning prevention at home, school, work and the general environment. Hence, education and information dissemination activities on poisoning prevention provide valuable information to increase the awareness of the general public, the working population and empower individuals in all sectors of the society up to the community level.
