Drug Topics - October 8, 2007 - (Page 38)

38 DRUG TOPICS OCTOBER 8, 2007 www.drugtopics.com CONTINUING EDUCATION GOAL To present the roles pharmacists may play in responding to local disasters occurring within their own communities health emergency or natural disaster severe enough to cause local supplies to run out, medicines can be delivered to any state within 12 hours. Each state has plans to receive and distribute SNS medicines and medical supplies to local communities as quickly as possible. It is perhaps important to point out that FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, whereas the CDC is a major operating component of the Department of Health & Human Services. As different strategic priorities may result in delays and miscommunication between departments, the virtue of contingency planning on the part of first responders becomes obvious. The distributive function of pharmacists in firstresponder roles will differ based on the source of the medication. As will be discussed later in this article, in addition to medications acquired through the SNS, there are other avenues through which medications will enter the pool of supplies in a disaster area at emergency clinics and mobile outreach units, most notably through donations. With these medications, unlike with medications obtained through the SNS, pharmacists are faced with the often tedious, yet important, task of separating adequate medications from those that are unneeded, expired, or unsafe. Although FEMA has not reported any enhanced preparedness measures with respect to prescription medications, it is, for example, recommended that the general public in Florida maintain a 14- to 28-day supply of prescription medications on hand during hurricane season. Although some research has attempted to elicit the extent to which the general public is actually prepared for an emergency situation regarding supplies of prescription medications, little is known about whether the choices made by patients and consumers leave them adequately prepared for large-scale disasters. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that insufficient supplies of medications are common and first responders are frequently compelled to devise improvised plans to meet the patients’ drug-therapy needs. CREDIT This lesson provides two hours of CE credit and requires a passing grade of 70%.* OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this article, the pharmacist should be able to: Identify the potential disaster events (e.g., tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, toxic accidents, and epidemics) that may occur in communities Describe the roles that pharmacists may play in providing relief Discuss some of the “normal” reactions victims experience following a disaster, as well as “abnormal” reactions that may merit special clinical attention Describe several features of “psychological precautions” that first responders should follow Identify the signs of overexposure among first responders *To receive credit you must score 70% or higher on the quiz and complete the evaluation. Upon successful completion, the University of Florida College of Pharmacy will mail Statements of Credit for written quizzes within 10 working days. Participants completing the program on-line may print a Statement of Credit after successfully completing the program. such as personal preparation and planning for local disasters, will also be addressed. Effective receiving, storing, and distribution of medication Although pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals and American consumers currently have access to nearly 59,000 retail pharmacies widely dispersed in urban, suburban, and rural areas throughout the country, emergency situations can disrupt access to medications, render medications useless, or both. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention maintains the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), which contains large quantities of medications and medical supplies to protect the American public. In the event of a public Provision of immunizations and vaccinations At the time of this writing, pharmacists have the authority to immunize patients in 46 states. However, activities vary among states and are commonly governed by collaborative practice agreements. Although pharmacist involvement in immunization can include education, advocacy, and facilitation, vaccine administration is likely one of the more frequent activities performed by first responders. As most disasters are local events, immunization-related concerns differ from situations in which there is the potential for a pandemic, as is, for example, the case with avian flu. A pharma- http://www.drugtopics.com

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Drug Topics - October 8, 2007 Latebreakers Latebreakers in Depth Letters Rx Care Community Practice JP at Large 150 Years of American Pharmacy Hospital Practice Are You Getting Pharmacy's Message Across? Self-Care Government and Law Legal Q&A The Pharmacist as First Responder in Disaster Relief Technology Update New Products Advertisers Index Statement of Ownership Classified Viewpoint

Drug Topics - October 8, 2007

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