(Radio Iowa) – Despite the snow, it’ll soon be spring and Iowans will need to take greater care when using a host of products inside their homes and outside in their yards to avoid accidental poisonings. Janna Day, spokeswoman for the Iowa Poison Control Center and a licensed practical nurse, says they handled nearly 24-thousand poisoning cases last year, with calls from all 99 counties. The most common call involved pain relievers, medications found in nearly every household. “That could be things like acetaminophen, ibuprofen, those types of things. It’s important to note that when you’re taking an over-the-counter medication, to just be mindful of how much you’re taking, what the correct dose is,” Day says, “and if you ever have questions, you can always call us.”

Of all the calls to the toll-free number last year from Iowans, she says more than half involved children. Day says the Sioux City-based center is offering a new communications feature on its website: Iowa Poison-dot-org. “We understand that there are some folks who would rather connect with us via a chat feature and so we have launched that and we are excited to be able to offer that to the public,” Day says. “You can go onto our website and chat with us. You will still get connected to one of our nurses or one of our pharmacists.” Without access to the Iowa Poison Control Center, a study found 78-percent of callers report they would have gone directly to a hospital emergency room.

By providing immediate expert assessment and follow-up care, Day says the center saves Iowans nearly 16-million dollars in healthcare costs every year. “If you call the Iowa Poison Control Center, oftentimes we can manage your case with you right at home and save you a trip to the emergency department or save your child a trip to the emergency department,” Day says. “We can help with those cases just right over the phone or right over our chat feature.”

Contacting the hotline is free, confidential, and available around the clock at 1-800-222-1222.