A PHS pharmacist team's response to Hurricane Katrina.
OBJECTIVE
The challenges and victories that a team of Public Health Service (PHS) pharmacists experienced in establishing pharmacy operations at a federal medical station and conducting outreach missions are described.


CONCLUSIONS
The Gulf coast of Mississippi and southeast Louisiana were struck on August 29, 2005, by Hurricane Katrina, which caused widespread infrastructure damage, flooding, and loss of life. A team of 70 officers, which included 8 pharmacists, arrived on September 3 and 4 to establish a 480-bed federal medical station in an aircraft hangar at the naval air station (NAS) in Meridian, Mississippi. Numerous challenges were encountered, including identifying a secure space for a pharmacy, determining how to manage the immediate shortage of medications, devising a dispensing system specific to controlled medications, handling personal medications brought in by patients, and maintaining adequate pharmacy staffing to provide for hospital needs. Two outreach efforts were also undertaken. The first was to assist the NAS pharmacy department, which was overwhelmed with nearly 800 Navy and Coast Guard personnel who were displaced to the Meridian NAS. The second outreach effort was to augment the staff at a local free clinic in Meridian, which needed help to set up their clinic so they could handle the influx of hurricane victims who were arriving daily.


CONCLUSIONS
A team of PHS pharmacists established a pharmacy, provided pharmaceutical care, and conducted outreach programs to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Velazquez
Lydia
L
Office of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics, Division of Pharmaceutical Evaluation I, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20903, USA. lydia.velazquez@fda.hhs.gov
Dallas
Scott
S
Rose
Lisa
L
Evans
Krista S
KS
Saville
Rebecca
R
Wang
Jialynn
J
Bradley
Sean K
SK
Bona
James D
JD
D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services; D010595:Pharmacists; D015980:Public Health Practice; D012066:Relief Work; D018635:Rescue Work