Published: 2001-01-25
ISBN:
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
The main goal in calls to the Swedish Poison Control Center is the giving of adequate advice to a caller regarding how to deal with a possible case of poisoning. This goal is shared by both the caller and the institutional representative (pharmacist). Even so; the giving of advice can for various reasons be a rather complex activity. For the pharmacist; it is important to make the caller comply with the given advice. However; it is sometimes difficult to convince a caller that an incident is serious enough to demand measures that might be quite inconvenient for the caller. Conversely; the pharmacist sometimes has difficulties in convincing the caller that no special measures.
This article is a description of both the linguistic shape and the sequential construction of the advice. It is shown that advice is shaped differently in calls that deal with more severe poisoning incidents as compared to less severe ones. In the former cases; the advice is shaped in a way that offers the caller less freedom regarding whether to comply with the advice or not; compared to less severe cases. As for the sequential construction of advice; it is shown that advice giving is a joint construction. Advice sequences are generally repeated in the calls.
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