CPC provides the 24/7/365 poison hotline for the entire state of North Carolina and currently handles approximately 80,000 calls per year. CPC consultation services that assist callers with poison exposure, diagnosis, optimal patient management, therapy, and patient disposition guidance remain indispensable to the public and health care providers. Poison control center data have been used for years in syndromic surveillance practice as a reliable data source for early event detection.

Recreational drug use is a major problem in the United States and around the world. Specifically, drug abuse results in heavy use of emergency department (ED) services, and is a high financial burden to society and to the hospitals due to chronic ill health and multiple injection drug use complications. Intravenous drug users are at high risk of developing sepsis and endocarditis due to the use of a dirty or infected needle that is either shared with someone else or re-used.

Syndromic surveillance offers the potential for earlier detection of bioterrorism, outbreaks, and other public health emergencies than traditional disease surveillance. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) Office of Preparedness and Response (OP&R) conducts syndromic surveillance using the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE). Since its inception, ESSENCE has been a vital tool for DHMH, providing continuous situational awareness for public health policy decision makers.