This study aimed to: (1) explore changes in the volume of calls to poison control centers (PCs) for intentional exposures (IEs) in Dallas County, Texas, overall and by gender and age, and (2) examine the association between 2 different public health emergencies (PHEs) and changes in IE call volume.

PCs categorize calls they receive by intentionality of the exposure, based on information from the caller. We analyzed data on PC calls categorized as intentional in Dallas County, Texas, from March 2019 – April 2021. This period includes the COVID-19 pandemic declaration (March 2020), a surge in COVID-19 cases (July 2020), and Winter Storm Uri (February 2021). Changes in IE call volume (overall and by age and gender), were explored, and interrupted time series analysis was used to examine call volume changes after PHE onset.

The summer surge in COVID-19 cases was associated with 1.9 additional IE calls/day (95% CI 0.7 to 3.1), in the context of a baseline unadjusted mean of 6.2 calls per day (unadjusted) before November 3, 2020. Neither the pandemic declaration nor Winter Storm Uri was significantly associated with changes in call volume. Women, on average, made 1.2 more calls per day compared to men during the study period. IE calls for youth increased after the pandemic declaration, closing the longstanding gap between adults and youth by early 2021.

Changes in IE call volume in Dallas County varied by gender and age. Calls increased during the local COVID-19 surge. Population-level behavioral health may be associated with local crisis severity.

The development of syndromic surveillance systems to detect bioterrorist attacks and emerging infectious diseases has become an important and challenging goal to many governmental agencies and healthcare authorities. This study utilized the sharp increase of glow product-related calls to demonstrate the utility of poison ontrol data for early detection of potential outbreaks during the week of Halloween in 2007.

A review was conducted of the electronic records of exposures reported to the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System NJPIES) Poison Control Hotline from 2002 through 2007 with generic code number 0201027 (glow products) set by the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC). Key information such as age, gender, time of the call, exposure reason, clinical effects, and medical outcomes along with telephone number, zip code, and county location were used in the analyses to determine the extent of the outbreak.

Analyses included a total of 139 glow product-related calls during the week of Halloween in 2007 with a single-day high of 59 calls on Halloween Day. More than 90% of the glow product exposures were in children 1–10 years of age. The glow product-related calls on Halloween Day increased from 14 calls in 2002 to 59 calls in 2007, a 321% increase during a six-year period.

Poison control centers in the United States are equipped with a unique and uniform input data collection system—the National Poison Data System—that provides an important data source in the development of a comprehensive surveillance system for early outbreak detection.