(A) In accordance with rules adopted under division (C) of this section, the director of health shall establish, promote, and maintain the Ohio poison control network; designate regions within the network; and designate poison prevention and treatment centers within each region. The purposes of the network are to:

(1) Reduce the mortality resulting from and the expenditures incurred because of accidental, homicidal, suicidal, occupational, or environmental poisoning;

(2) Educate the public and health care professionals concerning the prevention and treatment of exposure to poison;

(3) Organize poison prevention and treatment activities on a regional basis to avoid duplication and waste.

(B) To be eligible for designation as a poison prevention and treatment center and to retain the designation, a center must maintain compliance with the standards established by the director pursuant to division (C) of this section. A poison prevention and treatment center may be operated by an individual, hospital, institution of higher education, political subdivision, association, corporation, or public or private agency.

(C) In accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, the director shall adopt rules that do the following:

(1) Establish guidelines, based on population density and other relevant factors, and procedures to be followed in designating poison control network regions and centers;

(2) Establish standards for the operation of poison prevention and treatment centers;

(3) Establish standards and procedures to be followed in making grants to poison prevention and treatment centers;

(4) Establish procedures, other than those prescribed by Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, for reconsideration, at the request of the entity affected, of the denial or revocation of a designation as a poison prevention and treatment center.

(D) In accordance with rules adopted under division (C) of this section, the director of health shall make grants to poison prevention and treatment centers. A center is not eligible for a grant unless, prior to receiving the grant, the entity that operates the center agrees in writing that the level of the total funds, labor, and services devoted by the entity to the center during the period of the grant will approximate, as determined by the director of health, the level of the total funds, labor, and services devoted to the center by that entity in the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which the grant begins.

(E) Each poison prevention and treatment center shall do all of the following:

(1) Maintain and staff a twenty-four-hour per day, toll-free, telephone line to respond to inquiries and provide information about poison prevention and treatment and available services;

(2) Provide specialized treatment, consultation, information, and educational programs to health care professionals and the public;

(3) Compile information on the types and frequency of treatment it provides.

A center may provide the services described in divisions (E)(1) and (2) of this section either directly or through contract with other facilities, as the director of health considers appropriate. Each center shall take measures to ensure the confidentiality of information about individuals to whom treatment or services are provided.

(F) The director of health may revoke the designation of a poison treatment and control center, or deny an application for designation, if the center or applicant fails to meet or maintain the standards established in rules adopted under division (C) of this section. The entity seeking the designation may have the revocation or denial reconsidered in accordance with rules adopted under division (C) of this section.

(G)

(1) A poison prevention and treatment center, its officers, employees, volunteers, or other persons associated with the center, and a person, organization, or institution that advises or assists a poison prevention and treatment center are not liable in damages in a tort action for harm that allegedly arises from advice or assistance rendered to any person unless the advice or assistance is given in a manner that constitutes willful or wanton misconduct or intentionally tortious conduct.

(2) This section does not create, and shall not be construed as creating, a new cause of action or substantive legal right against a poison prevention and treatment center, its officers, employees, volunteers, or other persons associated with the center, or a person, organization, or institution that advises or assists a poison prevention and treatment center.

(3) This section does not affect, and shall not be construed as affecting, any immunities from civil liability or defenses conferred by any other section of the Revised Code or available at common law, to which a poison prevention and treatment center, its officers, employees, volunteers, or other persons associated with the center or a person, organization, or institution that advises or assists a poison prevention and treatment center may be entitled under circumstances not specified by this section.

(H) The director shall annually report to the general assembly findings and recommendations concerning the effectiveness, impact, and benefits of the poison prevention and treatment centers.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.127, HB 487, §101.01, eff. 9/10/2012.

Effective Date: 10-30-1989 .