When to Call Poisons Information (13 11 26) vs Your Pharmacist

This guide explains what each service does, when to call which, and what information to have ready when you make the call.

What the Poisons Information Centre is

The Australian Poisons Information Centre network operates a single national number, 13 11 26, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, everywhere in Australia. The number routes to the closest regional centre: the NSW Poisons Information Centre at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, the Queensland Poisons Information Centre, and the Victorian Poisons Information Centre.

The service is staffed by specialist poisons information pharmacists and toxicologists. They have access to detailed clinical databases on prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, household chemicals, plants, animal bites and stings, industrial substances, and food contaminants.

A call to 13 11 26 is free. The service does not record your name unless you choose to provide it, and does not report calls to Medicare or any other agency. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing recognises the service as a core element of Australian poisons response policy at health.gov.au.

When to call 13 11 26

Call the Poisons Information Centre if:

• You or someone has swallowed a medicine in a quantity that may be too much
• A child has accidentally ingested a medicine, household chemical, or plant
• You have taken your medicine twice by mistake
• You suspect a medicine mix-up (the wrong tablet from a Webster pack, two medicines confused)
• You have been stung or bitten and are unsure how serious the exposure is
• You are caring for someone who has overdosed and the person is conscious and breathing
• You have splashed a household chemical in your eyes or on your skin

The specialist on the line will ask structured questions, give you specific instructions, and tell you whether to manage at home, see a GP, attend an emergency department, or call 000.

When to call 000 instead

Call 000 (Triple Zero) for emergency medical response if:

• The person is unconscious or unresponsive
• The person is not breathing, is struggling to breathe, or is breathing slowly and shallowly
• The person is having a seizure
• The person is bleeding heavily, has severe pain, or is showing signs of shock (pale, sweaty, confused)
• The person has collapsed
• Severe allergic reaction signs are present (swelling of face or throat, difficulty breathing, widespread rash)

In these cases, do not wait for 13 11 26. Call 000, ask for an ambulance, follow the operator's instructions, and once help is on the way you can call 13 11 26 alongside if you have time and the operator agrees.

For suspected opioid overdose specifically, naloxone may be appropriate; see our Take Home Naloxone guide for what to do.

What to call your pharmacist about

Your community pharmacist is the right first call during pharmacy hours for:

• Label questions ("does this mean one tablet or two")
• Missed dose questions
• New side effects you want to check
• Interactions between a new over-the-counter product and your regular medicines
• Generic versus brand questions
• Wrong-strength purchases
• Travelling overseas with your medicine

Pharmacist advice is free. Walk in, phone, or message through the pharmacy's app. For non-urgent questions outside pharmacy hours, healthdirect on 1800 022 222 has a registered nurse available 24/7.

Situation	Right call
Unconscious, not breathing, seizure, severe allergic reaction	000
Suspected overdose, accidental ingestion, double-dose, plant or chemical exposure	13 11 26 (24/7)
Label questions, missed doses, side-effect checks, OTC interactions	Your community pharmacist (pharmacy hours)
Non-urgent health question outside pharmacy hours	healthdirect 1800 022 222 (24/7)

The National Poisons Information call flow

When you call 13 11 26, the call follows a structured flow that gets the specialist to the right advice quickly.

1. The call routes to your nearest regional centre based on your area code or mobile location
2. A poisons information specialist (a specialist pharmacist or toxicologist) answers
3. They confirm the situation: who is affected, what substance, how much, how long ago
4. They check the substance against their clinical database
5. They give specific advice: monitor at home, attend an ED, call 000, or follow first-aid steps
6. They may call back to follow up, and can call ahead to an ED so staff are ready for you

The conversation is calm, clinical, and quick.

What information to have ready

Before you call, gather as much of the following as you can. Do not delay the call if you do not have all of it.

• The substance. Name from the label or packaging. Brand, generic name, strength (mg or mL), and form (tablet, liquid, cream)
• The quantity. How much was taken? Best estimate is fine. Count the missing tablets if you can
• The time. When was it taken? Even a rough estimate (within the last hour, two hours ago)
• The person. Age, approximate weight, any existing health conditions, other medicines they take
• Symptoms. Anything noticed since the exposure: nausea, drowsiness, agitation, rash, pain
• What you have already done. Anything offered to the person to drink, induced vomiting, called someone else

If the substance is a household chemical, keep the container with the label visible while you call. The specialist may ask for ingredient details. If it is a plant, a photograph helps; some regional centres can review a photo by text.