68-970.

Nebraska Regional Poison Center; legislative findings.

The Legislature finds that:

(1) The Nebraska Regional Poison Center funded through the University of Nebraska Medical Center Cash Fund provides a valuable service to Nebraska;

(2) The center receives over seventeen thousand calls annually, seventy-two percent of the calls involve children, and over twenty-seven percent of the calls relate to children in families whose annual household income is at or below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level;

(3) The operation of the center has resulted in over ninety percent of the calls regarding a child under six years of age being handled in a manner such that the child was able to remain at home and the child did not have to visit an emergency room or use 911 or emergency medical services; and

(4) The operation of the center results in a cost savings of one hundred seventy-five dollars per call in 1996 dollars.