Georgia pharmacists prepare for disasters
Early last year a governor-appointed task force met to prepare for a possible swine flu epidemic in Georgia. The 17 task force members included representatives from Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office and from the pharmacy, public health, medicine, emergency management and other segments of health care.
“We met for a year. Fortunately, the swine flu wasn’t as bad as expected, but we did a lot of thinking ahead and coordinating resources for possible future disasters,” said D. Steven Wilson, vice president of the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy and owner of Carter’s Pharmacy in Smyrna.
As the task force studied health and emergency assistance systems in the state, a surprising fact came to light.
“Jean Sumner, a doctor on the task force, noted that pharmacy had a network of people covering the whole state that were overtrained and underutilized during times of emergency. It seemed logical that pharmacists should take a leading role in disaster operations,” Wilson said.
Pharmacists have the largest network of health care providers that are trained and easily accessible to the public. There also are pharmacists in every county in the state.
“You don’t want people lining up at the public health department or doctors’ offices during an epidemic or natural disaster. The health departments would be overwhelmed,” Wilson said.
A better scenario would be to have the government’s stockpiles of vaccines or medicines distributed directly to pharmacies and dispensed to the public.
“Working under protocols, pharmacists could muster volunteers. They could set up in a parking lot and mass fill prescriptions or mass vaccinate much faster,” Wilson said.
To prepare them for this role, the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy mandated that every pharmacist receive three hours of disaster-preparation training. To renew their licenses, pharmacists normally are required to complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years. The new, three-hour course will count as part of that requirement, but it must be complemented by Dec. 31, 2010.
“This is a huge opportunity for pharmacy to serve the public, and we want to get everybody on the same playing field by focusing on disaster training for our profession,” Wilson said.
The Disaster Preparedness and Response for Pharmacists course created by the pharmacy board includes a look at past disasters in Georgia. Pharmacists will be able to identify and address threats that could occur in their practice area, and the role of pharmacists in each type of disaster will be defined.
The course addresses legal matters surrounding pharmaceuticals and dispensing during emergencies, as well as the governing bodies and organizations involved. It also outlines the process for deployment of the Strategic National Stockpile, and the reporting requirements for medications supplied from that national repository of antibiotics, vaccines, chemical antidotes, antitoxins and other critical medical equipment and supplies.
The training compares methods of mass vaccination and mass dispensing of prophylaxis and treatment. Pharmacists also learn how to plan and operate a mass vaccination clinic.
The course may be completed online, at a live site or via a mailed DVD. For information, contact the Georgia Board of Pharmacy (www.sos.ga.gov/plb/pharmacy).
The University of Georgia’s College of Pharmacy has developed a Web page (www.rxugace.com/emergency) for the course. For more information, call 706-542-6665.
As of press time, only 3,000 of the state’s more than 13,000 pharmacists had completed the training. Wilson wants to get the word out.
“It’s fulfilling, as a pharmacist, to have people recognize the training we have and to see us as a statewide resource,” he said. “Most of us went to pharmacy school to help people. With this new role we’ll definitely be doing that in future emergencies.”
