Pharmacy professionals play an important role in responding to emergency events, such as natural disasters or infectious disease outbreaks. They are called upon to urgently dispense medications from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) to protect the public and save lives. They may also serve other functions in their communities depending on the type of emergency.
Pharmacists are highly visible members of the healthcare community, and involvement in emergency preparedness begins in local communities. Unlike many other emergencies, pandemics are not localized to a single region of the country. Given the mobility of individuals, carriers of the infectious diseases can transmit illness through various means. Because of this, careful local community planning is essential prior to an event to enable a successful response during an event.
Pharmacies are ideally located to play an important part in any local response, and pharmacy professionals are adequately equipped to assist the public during response efforts.
Michigan pharmacists have been actively engaged in community and statewide emergency preparedness efforts, including the first deployment of Michigan’s mobile field hospital in 2011.
Pharmacists also protect their patients and staff by encouraging them to have a personal and family emergency plan in place. The plan should include an organized record of medication information, supplies and communication mechanisms.
As pharmacists’ role in providing vaccines continues to expand, they can help prepare for pandemic situations. During the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009, pharmacists were instrumental in providing patients with pertinent information to make informed choices about their immunizations.