The index line as a new aid in clinical and forensic toxicology

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology, we investigated the use of electronic data processing for clinical toxicological purposes. Initially, sufficient funds were available for a comprehensive approach to the problem and programs covering the following areas were established:

1. A casuistic data program;
2. an identification program for wild fruits;
3. a program for the identification of tablets by their shapes

Due to a subsequent lack of funds, it was necessary to develop a partial solution: this solution is what we call the Index Line. The Index Line—limited data on poisonings—should enable the user to receive information by telex from the German Institute for Medical Documentation and Information, i.e., information on “who has what, where”. As a first step the continuous Index Line registration of all cases of poisoning recorded at the poison control centers in Munich, Freiburg, Hamburg, and Nürnberg as well as at the State Institute for Food, Pharmaceutical and Forensic Chemistry in Berlin was founded in 1975. To participate in the program, complete instructions are necessary.