“Hello, I have a human patient with late-onset gastrointestinal symptoms after ingesting these mushrooms.” This is how one of the many messages you receive in ‘Poisons Help; Emergency Identification For Mushrooms & Plants‘, a Facebook group formed by experts in the identification of poisonous plants and mushrooms. They are available 24 hours a day and not only receive consultations from individuals, but also doctors and veterinarians.
ID. There are more than 100,000 species of fungi, of which more than a hundred are poisonoussome even mortal. And the same thing happens with many plants. If a person or animal ingests one of these by accident, it is crucial to identify the species to see what steps to take. However, distinguishing these species is not an easy task; in-depth knowledge of botany and mycology is required. In 2018, several experts founded a Facebook group to help identify poisonous species in emergencies. And they are extremely effective.
For emergencies only. When you enter the group, a message appears with the rules for posting. The first thing they make clear is that it is a group for emergencies, that is, you can only post if a person or animal has ingested the mushrooms. If someone has a question because they are curious to know details about a specific specimen, there are other groups for that. They also have a warning for trolls: “People come here at scary times for immediate life-saving help, please don’t make jokes, judge or criticize. This is not the place to test your sense of humor or correct others.”
Strict rules. For the group to be effective, in active cases no one is allowed to comment other than the administrators themselves or the people who have reported an emergency. It is necessary to provide all possible data: location, amount ingested, time since ingestion, photos of the specimen, weight of the person or animal that ingested it, etc.
Doctors and veterinarians. Many of the posts are made directly by professionals who have a patient with problems after ingesting an unknown mushroom or plant. Most are veterinarians, but there are also many cases of doctors with human patients in the same situation. Even there have been cases in which the poison center itself has been the one who recommended going to the group for identification.
Recognition. In addition to being a source of consultation for professionals, its work has also been recognized by associations such as the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, which last August invited them to give a talk in one of his conferences. Among the group administrators There are mycologists, botanists and also amateur hobbyists.
Cover image | Vladimir Srajber, Pexels
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