title: Involvement of Pharmacists in Medical Care in Emergency and Critical Care Centers.
abstract: Emergency and critical care centers provide multidisciplinary therapy for critically ill patients by centralizing the expertise and technology of many medical professionals. Because the patients' conditions vary, different drug treatments are administered along with surgery. Therefore, the role of pharmacists is important. Critically ill patients who receive high-level invasive treatment undergo physiological changes differing from their normal condition along with variable therapeutic effects and pharmacokinetics. Pharmacists are responsible for recommending the appropriate drug therapy using their knowledge of pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. Further, pharmacists need to determine the general condition of patients by understanding vital signs, blood gas analysis results, etc. It is therefore necessary to conduct consultations with physicians and nurses. The knowledge required for emergency medical treatment is not provided during systematic training in pharmaceutical education, meaning that pharmacists acquire it in the clinical setting through trial and error. To disseminate the knowledge of emergency medical care to pharmacy students, emergency care training has been started in a few facilities. I believe that medical facilities and universities need to conduct joint educational sessions on emergency medical care. Moreover, compared with other medical fields, there are fewer studies on emergency medical care. Research-oriented pharmacists must resolve this issue. This review introduces the work conducted by pharmacists for clinical student education and clinical research at the Emergency and Critical Care Center of Nihon University Itabashi Hospital and discusses future prospects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Nihon University Itabashi Hospital.
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care; D016638:Critical Illness; D004346:Drug Information Services; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010595:Pharmacists; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital; D024382:Professional Role; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013339:Students, Pharmacy