Pharmacist readiness roles for emergency preparedness

Extract

Pharmacists provide care in a variety of settings, including ambulatory care clinics, community pharmacies, home health pharmacies, and hospital pharmacies. The pharmacist’s role in disaster response is just as critical as it is in traditional settings. As the most accessible health care provider, the pharmacist plays an especially vital role when a disaster disrupts a community’s health care system.

Several articles have described pharmacists’ experiences and the lessons learned in both planning and responding to disasters.1–4 In addition, pharmacy associations have recognized the responsibilities and duties of pharmacists to prepare and respond to disasters and to participate in the full range of issues related to pharmaceuticals in disaster response.5–8

While similarities exist between pharmacists’ roles and responsibilities in traditional and disaster settings, it is important to emphasize that these roles and responsibilities are not the same. The unique circumstances of and challenges presented during a crisis require the pharmacist to have specialized skills that will help him or her provide rapid and effective pharmaceutical care during a disaster.