PERT | Pharmacy Emergency Response
Team (PERT)
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PERT Standards |  pdf
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Please Join Us at Our Next Meeting:
June 9, 2008
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Ciao Bella Ristorante
1630 Spruce St.
Riverside, CA 92507
Dinner will be served
One CE (Continuing Education) hour will be awarded to all PERT members who attend
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What is the Pharmacy Emergency Response Team (PERT)?
• PERT consists of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy students who form a response team.
• Members are identified as volunteers who are entered in a database and are called upon to serve their community during a large scale disaster in which a public health emergency (such as a terrorist attack, flu outbreak, earthquake, or bioterrorist attack) is declared.
Why are Pharmacy Personnel Needed?
• To dispense medication to the general public during a mass prophylaxis attempt to save the lives of the citizens within Riverside County.
• PERT members can also provide dosage or vaccination information, provide triage, physical assessment and health screenings, collect epidemiologic data or administer vaccines.
• PERT volunteers will help increase our ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a large public health emergency.
What are the benefits of being a PERT member?
• Quarterly Meetings
• Obtain Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
• Receive Training Help save lives in your community!
Click here to register on-line or for more information, call the Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch at (951) 358-7100.
The
Role of the Pharmacist during
a Disaster
The
events of September 11, 2001
changed the face of our nation
forever. Sadly,
we must now be on the alert
for the atrocities of potential
terrorist attacks. One
potential terrorist weapon would
be the use of a biological agent
to cause illness and death. The
Riverside County Department
of Public Health (DOPH), Bioterrorism
Preparedness and Response Branch
is preparing for such an event
in collaboration with our partners
in the medical, fire, law enforcement,
and emergency management communities. One
primary area of preparedness
involves the mass distribution
of pharmaceuticals or vaccines
should the need arise in Riverside
County.
In
order to be prepared, the expertise
and participation of pharmacists
is needed to assist in the development
and implementation of plans
for conducting mass prophylaxis. Members
of the team assist with the
development and review of written
plans and are offered the opportunity
to work at a mass prophylaxis
distribution site, should an
event occur.
The
Riverside County Department
of
Public Health, Bioterrorism
Preparedness
and Response Branch is reaching
out to pharmacists who either
live or work in Riverside County
to offer education and training
on the Department’s
Mass Prophylaxis plans. If
you are interested in participating
in the PERT, please contact
one
of our PERT coordinators,
Natalie Martinez or Marissa
Alcantara
at (951) 358-7100,
and we will be happy to provide
you with details on becoming
a
PERT member.
Accomplishments | Established March 2004
• May 2008 – PERT recruitment effort at the Loma Linda University, School of Pharmacy, Student Forum: PERT Co-chairs, Dale Timothy and Azzam Bassam, along with Riverside County Public Health Officer, Dr. Eric Frykman, addressed the students about the importance of PERT and the role of pharmacists and pharmacy students in a disaster.
• March 2008 – "Emergency Preparedness and Response at Loma Linda University" lecture presented by Dr. Hal Marlow, Assistant professor, Department of Environmental Health, Loma Linda University.
• September 2007 - PERT members discussed the dispensing methods used during the Operation POD at Chaparral Exercise and offered advice for improvements.
• July 2007 – PERT members participated in Operation POD at Chaparral Exercise, as medication dispenser, held at the Chaparral High School in Temecula.
• Welcome aboard to newly elected co-chairs, Dale Timothy and Azzam Bassam.
• Special thanks to Lawrence Springsteen for serving as PERT chairperson for 2005-2006.
• April 20, 2006: The PERT team was honored on April 20, 2006 at the Volunteer Recognition Ceremony held at the Moreno Valley Conference Center. The event was sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Riverside County.
• January 2006: PERT members participated in a Pharmaceutical Repackaging Exercise held during the January meeting.
• November 2005: PERT members participated in the Annual Statewide Exercise, which was held in conjunction with Riverside County’s full-scale exercise. During this exercise, Riverside County exercised mass prophylaxis plans.
• Summer 2005: Provided PERT members certifications in vaccine administration.
• Summer 2005: PERT members provided feedback for Bioterrorism plans, specifically related to mass dispensing and pharmaceutical rotation.
• Summer 2005: Breakdown of local Pharmaceutical Cache Exercise- PERT members participated in a breakdown exercise, testing the ability and time it takes to break down the local pharmaceutical cache.
• Spring/Summer 2005: PERT members assisted with exploration of mechanisms for stock rotation.
• 2005: Regular PERT meetings occur every other month. CPR training and WMD related trainings are offered regularly to PERT members. PERT members are offered Continuing Education for programs that they attend.
• November 2004: Regular PERT Meetings established, membership standards established.
• May 2004: PERT members participated in May Day 2004, a three-day, County-wide, bioterrorism exercise. This exercise tested two large mass prophylaxis clinics in which PERT members assisted in the screening and dispensing of medications for volunteers that may have been exposed to a bioterrorism agent (plague was utilized for this drill).
• April 2004: SNS and Mass Prophylaxis Training Program delivered by the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Branch.
• April 2004: Training specifically for the Pharmacist on the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), Incident Command System (ICS), Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) and An Introduction to Plague. This training was attended by Tom Ahrens, Pharm. D., California State SNS Coordinator.
• March 2004: Medication for the Masses: The Pharmacist’s Role During A Disaster- Training program delivered by the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Branch that included presentations from Ted Tong, Pharm. D, Professor Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Task Force, University of Arizona.
• February 2004: Letters soliciting PERT membership were sent to every pharmacist registered with the California Board of Pharmacy that resides in Riverside County.
Future
PERT Activities
• June 9, 2008 (see above for flyer and registration): “Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza: Preparing Pharmacists to be on the Frontline” lecture will be given by Dr. Michael Klepser, Professor at Ferris State University. Also, an update on the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) will be given by California State SNS Pharmacist Dr. Dana Grau. One Continuing Education (CE) credit will be awarded to pharmacists who attend.
• July 30, 2008: Immunization Training for PERT Pharmacists, CEs are available for those who will attend.
• October 2008: Next quarterly PERT Meeting. |
