Poison Prevention Week/Stakeholder Call with EPA Administrator

Poison Prevention Week Stakeholder Call with Administrator Jackson

Subject: INVITATION: A Stakeholder Briefing on Poison Prevention Featuring EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson

Dear Friend,

U.S. poison centers answer more than four million calls each year. That’s one call every eight seconds!

This March marks the 50^th anniversary of National Poison Prevention Week. In honor of this important occasion, the U.S. EPA is hosting a conference call on poison prevention with Administrator Lisa P. Jackson on Monday, March 19 at 10:30am EDT. Joining Administrator Jackson will be the following officials who will discuss their organization’s role in preventing accidental poisonings, what to do if exposure occurs, and how to spread the word about prevention:

· Inez Tenenbaum, Chairman, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

· Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., Administrator, Health Resource Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

· Robin Ikeda, Director, Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Injury and Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

· Deborah Carr, Executive Director, American Association of Poison Control Centers

As an important environmental stakeholder, we hope you will be able to attend and encourage your organization’s membership to join as well to help us raise awareness about this important message to parents, grandparents, caregivers, educators, and others in your community.

To attend the call, RSVP here: http://poisonprevention.eventbrite.com

Additional ways to get involved and help us make homes safer:

Spread the Word! In recognition of National Poison Prevention Week, EPA urges parents and caregivers to help raise awareness of the dangers of poisonings. It is everyone’s responsibility to help prevent poisonings. We encourage you to post Administrator Jackson’s video message about poison prevention on your website. To see the message, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fu1f0LrMrk

Prevention is Key! Accidental poisonings are preventable. Re-seal pesticides, other household chemicals, and medications and keep them away from children.

Call First! The Poison Help line (800-222-1222) connects you to experts at your local poison center 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Help is available in more than 150 languages. Program the poison help line number into your phone and post it near your phone.

Use and Store Products Safety! Store all household products up high, out of children’s reach, in locked cabinet. Use child resistant safety latches. Read the label first and follow product instructions.

Visit EPA’s poison prevention website for free consumer resources to help raise awareness about preventing poisonings and exposures to household cleaners and pesticides in your home and community: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/poisonprevention.htm

For more information on National Poison Prevention Week, please see: http://www.poisonprevention.org/index.htm