(Wikimedia Commons)

If you, like so many of us, have a little magnet on your fridge displaying the number of the Poison Control Center, you probably think of it as an emergency aid for when projectile vomiting hits — not as a money-saver.

But the American Association of Poison Control Centers -- hit hard recently by federal budget cuts — has just released a calculation that the poison center system saves the country $1.8 billion a year in health costs and lost productivity.

Something to think about, in this season of drug lab scandals and tainted injections that additional investment in public health might have helped avert. The report calculates that the funding for poison control centers costs each American resident 43 cents a year. Rarely am I as happy to spend a few cents. It's an American-Express-ad type of thing: The ability to know exactly what number to call when your toddler has just eaten a bunch of aspirin? Priceless.

From the press release: