California Poison Control System: Protecting Public Health, One Call at a Time

Every day, the California Poison Control System (CPCS) serves as a crucial safety net, responding to hundreds of calls daily about potential poison exposures. Operated by the UCSF School of Pharmacy, CPCS is the largest single provider of poison control services in the United States, offering immediate and expert guidance around the clock to both health care professionals and the general public across the state. 

Nearly 103,000 people die each year in the United States from unintentional poisonings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

A lifesaving mission 

With call centers in Fresno/Madera, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego, CPCS provides free, confidential and multilingual assistance on over 250,000 calls annually that range from accidental ingestions to occupational and environmental chemical exposures and drug overdoses. 

Their emergency response teams are an interdisciplinary collection of experts that include pharmacists, physicians and clinical toxicologists.

“We save lives and help people in real time,” said Rais Vohra, MD, medical director of CPCS’s Fresno/Madera division. “There's nothing worse than not knowing whether something is serious. One of our major services is providing good information and insight from professionals with extensive experience. We give callers confidence and certainty about what to do.” 

No two days at CPCS are the same. Each intervention requires swift assessment and decisive action, whether it’s a parent panicked about a child ingesting a household cleaner, a paramedic seeking advice on treating a fentanyl overdose or a hiker exposed to a venomous snake. 

In many cases, CPCS experts provide reassurance that symptoms will resolve without the need to seek medical treatment in a health care facility. In others they provide first aid tips — such as using hot water to treat the pain from stingray punctures to irrigating chemical burns to the eyes with plenty of cold water — to help callers before medical care is available. In more serious cases, they direct callers to a physician, a local urgent care facility or an emergency department. 

“We’re providing human connection at a time of great need and vulnerability,” Vohra said. “We’re also saving costs, preventing unnecessary emergency department visits, lab testing and the financial burden that comes with them. We are a valuable public health agency.” 

A collaborative, multidisciplinary approach 

In addition to providing emergency response, the CPCS educates the public and medical providers about poison-related risks. During National Poison Prevention Week⁷ from March 17-21, 2025, CPCS is expanding its “Close Calls ” video series⁸ in which CPCS experts discuss common poisonings, and Vohra will lead a "Rattlesnakes Uncoiled" session on March 20 at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo. 

CPCS also collaborates with law enforcement and public health agencies to monitor trends in toxic exposures and emerging threats. The triage requires continuous learning to ensure that evidence-based, up-to-date toxicology knowledge is applied in every consultation. 

“There’s always new data out there, and there’s always new training on the job,” said UCSF School of Pharmacy alum Eduardo De La Torre, PharmD, ‘19, a toxicology management specialist at CPCS Fresno/Madera who fell in love with poison control on rotation while completing his residency at Valley Children’s Healthcare. 

De La Torre said he was initially surprised by how many calls came from hospitals and physicians. His pharmacy training enables him to provide expert advice to support the best treatment for the patient. 

“As pharmacists, we can evaluate patient medications, assess lab results such as kidney and liver function and determine if there are drug interactions,” he said. “We can provide different perspectives and recommendations based on knowing things like product ingredients — things that are less obvious.” 

De La Torre said poison control was a natural tie-in with his background in pediatric pharmacy, because about half of the calls that come into CPCS are from parents of young children under age 6 who have accidentally eaten or drank something around the house. 

“One thing that can prevent a lot of those exposures is just being aware of what you have at home,” De La Torre said, adding that many problems come from parents leaving medications around the house or leaving chemicals in unlabeled containers. 

Harm reduction through research 

Beyond immediate interventions, CPCS research also has contributed to national policy changes. 

“There's always new things going on that we need to be aware of. Whether it's a new medication that's been approved by the FDA or something environmental like wildfire smoke, we work hard to warn people about dangerous trends,” Vohra said, adding that social media is a particular concern because “bad ideas travel fast, like viral challenges or a new street drug that is emerging. We watch the news, analyze our call data and feed that information back to the public so they can make smart decisions to keep their families safe.” 

“We definitely need new medications and better medications, but we also need them to be safe. And sometimes that safety piece is something that poison control discovers, after medications are already on the market,” Vohra said, recalling a notable example involving teething gels, widely used for infant pain relief, that posed serious risks. 

“We conducted research and published a paper⁹, and the FDA reviewed our manuscript, which led the FDA to tell the industry to phase out these dangerous numbing medications¹⁰. That was very fulfilling,” Vohra said. 

He added that working with UCSF pharmacy students who do rotations at CPCS is one of the most rewarding parts of his career because he sees them grow into experts who will serve their communities. 

“With poisonings, drugs, overdoses and natural exposures, there's a very quick turnaround time,” Vohra said. “You get to apply all the things that you learn in pharmacy school or emergency medical training in real time to help patients, and you get quick feedback. You know within a few hours to a few days exactly how that patient did, and you know exactly how the treatments help them get better.” 

More 

How a PharmD Alum Leads Public Health Innovation Through Poison Control¹¹ 

Masters of Poison¹²