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AETC Warmline/Pepline
The National HIV Telephone
Consultation Service: The Warmline 1-800-933-3413
Health care providers confront many complex questions about the
latest in HIV treatment and care. New drugs and diagnostic techniques
are available, but many clinicians don't have the time or the resources
to keep up with cutting-edge information. Even the best technical
information can be difficult to apply to specific patients with
complex medical and social problems.
The National HIV Telephone Consultation Service (Warmline/PEPline)
offers physicians and other health care providers up-to-the-minute
HIV clinical information, and individualized expert case consultation
across the broad range of clinical HIV/AIDS problems. The Warmline
is staffed by clinicians experienced in HIV care who can help you
provide the best possible care to your HIV-positive patients.
This service is offered free of charge to:
- Physicians
- Physician Assistants
- Nurses
- Nurse Practitioners
- Pharmacists
- Dentists
- Other clinicians involved in HIV care
The Warmline is staffed every Monday through Friday, from 6:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time). Voice mail is available 24 hours
a day.
Questions are answered immediately whenever possible; most questions
are answered within 2 hours. Clinical information (such as CD4+
count, viral load, current medications) may be requested for case
consultation, though patients' names are never used. Written materials
supporting the telephone discussion are sent by mail or fax whenever
needed.
The National HIV Telephone Consultation Service: The PEPLine 1-888-HIV-4911
(448-4911)
Health care workers are often exposed through occupational accidents
to HIV or hepatitis and other blood borne diseases. Studies have
found that prompt treatment after exposures can reduce the number
of persons who actually become infected from these accidents. Now
a new 24-hour emergency hotline for clinicians who need advice on
treating patients who have suffered occupational exposures to blood
has opened to help provide prompt and appropriate treatment. The
free hotline is open seven days a week by calling 1-888-HIV-4911
(448-4911).
The National Clinician's Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Hotline (PEPLine)
is staffed by UC San Francisco (UCSF) health care providers at San
Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). PEPLine offers the most current
information on treatment (prophylaxis) for occupational exposures.
Callers to PEPLine will receive immediate advice from physicians,
clinical pharmacists or nurse practitioners. Non-emergency calls
will be returned during business hours. The PEPLine experts will
help callers assess their patients' risks, discuss the current post-exposure
prophylaxis protocols, and review specific treatment and follow-up
options. Written materials expanding on the telephone discussion
will be sent when needed.
The PEPLine was created by combining resources from two existing
UCSF programs: the National HIV Telephone Consultation Service (Warmline)
and the Needlestick Hotline. The Warmline (800-933-3413) is a free
consultation service for health care providers caring for HIV-infected
patients and is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA). The Needlestick Hotline was developed in 1988 to provide
immediate treatment to exposed health care workers at SFGH and has
served as a model for similar programs elsewhere.
PEPLine is a joint service of the UCSF Community Provider AIDS
Training Project (CPAT) the UCSF Department of Family and Community
Medicine, the EPI Center, the UCSF Department of Medicine at SFGH,
and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. PEPLine is funded
by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in collaboration with the San
Francisco Department of Health and UC San Francisco.
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