Medical Emergencies & Physicians' Inquiries

by Michael Kuo

While I and several of MushroomExpert.Com's contributors take mushroom emergency phone calls on a local basis, we are not available for emergency mushroom identification by phone on a nationwide or global basis. Though we will make every effort to answer emergency e-mails (address: ) as soon as we receive them, it may take a day or two.

We recommend that you contact the mycologist or mushroom specialist in the biology department of the nearest university to you, or an officer of a local mycological society. This page at MykoWeb lists mycological societies across the country.

eMedicine has fairly extensive information on several kinds of mushroom poisonings; search "mushroom toxicity" to get results.

If the offending mushroom is available, preserve it by refrigeration or freezing, and take photos (now, before it decays) from several angles, including its "underside." Mushrooms can be scanned in a flat-bed scanner; see this page for help. These steps will help a mushroom authority identify the mushroom.

The presence of amatoxins (some of the most lethal mushroom poisons) can be determined if you have access to hydrochloric acid, with the Meixner Test.

Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2003, August). Medical emergencies & physicians' inquiries. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/emergencies.html

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