Emergency management of acute poisoning is an emergency medicine short course that equips emergency personnel to assess acutely poisoned patients rapidly and accurately. This title is also valuable to nursing staff, senior pre-hospital health professionals and general practitioners. It provides a framework within which emergency personnel can safely work without being swamped by unnecessary details. The more commonly encountered cases of poisoning are discussed with guidelines for appropriate 'syndrome based' management of unknown toxicity while further investigations are being conducted.