You may call the hotline of the Poisoning Information Centre at 16662 or, when abroad, (+372) 794 3794, 24 hours a day, in case of any kind of acute poisoning or suspicion of it. Calls are anonymous and charged at local rates.
You can get information about all kinds of acute poisoning cases, including:
- household chemicals;
- wrongly dosed medical products;
- plant, berry and mushroom poisonings;
- pesticides and fertilizers;
- rodent and insect repellents;
- cosmetic and natural products;
- narcotics;
- venomous animal bites;
- poison gases;
- alcohol;
- questions about poisonings involving children.
The Poisoning Information Centre will not answer to questions about the following:
- general information about medicinal products (interactions and side effects) – in such cases, contact a pharmacy.
- animal poisonings – in such cases, contact your local veterinarian or veterinary clinic;
- non-venomous animal bites, insect bites (mosquitoes, wasps, bees, ticks, dogs, etc.) – in such cases, contact you family physician or go to the nearest emergency room;
- food poisonings – in case of acute food poisoning, contact your family physician or the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the West Tallinn Central Hospital;
- allergies, general health advice – in such cases, contact your family physician or call the family physician advice line at 1220.
The 16662 hotline is manned by doctors and nurses with years of experience who can quickly determine the most appropriate course of action in the case of poisoning. Please be prepared to respond to the following questions:
- How old is the victim?
- How much do they weigh?
- What is the name of the poison or can you describe it?
- When and how did the poisoning occur and what was the dose of poison?
- What are the health complaints?
- Is the victim vomiting?
- What kind of first aid has been provided?
It is advisable to call the poisoning information hotline at 16662 even when nothing happens immediately after consuming the poisonous substance or you are not certain if the poison has entered the body.