Children under the age of 6 are the most frequent victims of poisonings. Approximately 68 percent of the Poison Control Center's total call volume involves children in this age group. Many of the poisonings reported to the Center may have been preventable if children and their parents or guardians were aware of the common dangers in and around their home. Knowing how to prepare and maintain a safe environment is the first step in poison prevention.

The Children's Education Program operates in the five county Philadelphia area and is designed to:

• Teach young children the dangers of poisons
• Get poison prevention information to children and into their homes by distributing materials at schools and day care centers
• Distribute educational material to all school districts in our service area
• Provide needed educational material to health departments in our service area
• Create greater awareness of the Center as a service provider and as an education resource
• Reduce the number of accidental poisonings among children ages 3 to 6 in our service area

Target facilities for this program include: daycare and childcare centers, nursery schools, preschools, kindergartens and first grade classes.

Our popular traveling Children's Education Program is currently on hiatus. Please contact Patricia Gunter at 215-590-2003 to order poison prevention education materials or to request attendance at a health fair.