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Exploring Pharmacists’ Roles during the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer Bushfires

Background: Australians are no strangers to sudden natural disasters, such as bushfires. The effects of a natural disaster can devastate local communities and health care services. Currently, limited research has explored the role of the pharmacist during a natural disaster. This study explores the...

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Autores principales: Moss, Alexandra, Green, Toni, Moss, Simon, Waghorn, Janique, Bushell, Mary-Jessimine
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8396331/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34449721
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9030142
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author Moss, Alexandra
Green, Toni
Moss, Simon
Waghorn, Janique
Bushell, Mary-Jessimine
author_facet Moss, Alexandra
Green, Toni
Moss, Simon
Waghorn, Janique
Bushell, Mary-Jessimine
author_sort Moss, Alexandra
collection PubMed
description Background: Australians are no strangers to sudden natural disasters, such as bushfires. The effects of a natural disaster can devastate local communities and health care services. Currently, limited research has explored the role of the pharmacist during a natural disaster. This study explores the role of the Australian pharmacist during the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bushfires. Methods: Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with ten community pharmacists who worked through the Black Summer Bushfires whose daily tasks and work environment were directly affected by the bushfires. Thematic analysis using NVivo(®), a qualitative data analysis software was conducted. Results: Analysis of the transcripts generated six main themes: collaboration; trauma and mental health; power and communication; acute presentations; triaging and emergency prescribing. Pharmacists worked in close collaboration with doctors and members of the local community. They provided triaging services, timely health advice about chronic health problems, and managed acute issues, including wound and burn management and mental health support in traumatic conditions, sometimes without power and communication amenities. The challenges presented to pharmacists during the bushfires warranted creative and flexible approaches at times. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for mental health support and training for pharmacists, provisional prescribing privileges, and a clearer set of contingency regulations and legislation related to emergencies and natural disasters. Further research is warranted to gain greater insight into the roles undertaken by Australian pharmacists during natural disasters and their autonomy in decision making processes during such times.
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spelling pubmed-83963312021-08-28 Exploring Pharmacists’ Roles during the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer Bushfires Moss, Alexandra Green, Toni Moss, Simon Waghorn, Janique Bushell, Mary-Jessimine Pharmacy (Basel) Article Background: Australians are no strangers to sudden natural disasters, such as bushfires. The effects of a natural disaster can devastate local communities and health care services. Currently, limited research has explored the role of the pharmacist during a natural disaster. This study explores the role of the Australian pharmacist during the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bushfires. Methods: Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with ten community pharmacists who worked through the Black Summer Bushfires whose daily tasks and work environment were directly affected by the bushfires. Thematic analysis using NVivo(®), a qualitative data analysis software was conducted. Results: Analysis of the transcripts generated six main themes: collaboration; trauma and mental health; power and communication; acute presentations; triaging and emergency prescribing. Pharmacists worked in close collaboration with doctors and members of the local community. They provided triaging services, timely health advice about chronic health problems, and managed acute issues, including wound and burn management and mental health support in traumatic conditions, sometimes without power and communication amenities. The challenges presented to pharmacists during the bushfires warranted creative and flexible approaches at times. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for mental health support and training for pharmacists, provisional prescribing privileges, and a clearer set of contingency regulations and legislation related to emergencies and natural disasters. Further research is warranted to gain greater insight into the roles undertaken by Australian pharmacists during natural disasters and their autonomy in decision making processes during such times. MDPI 2021-08-19 /pmc/articles/PMC8396331/ /pubmed/34449721 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9030142 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Moss, Alexandra
Green, Toni
Moss, Simon
Waghorn, Janique
Bushell, Mary-Jessimine
Exploring Pharmacists’ Roles during the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer Bushfires
title Exploring Pharmacists’ Roles during the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer Bushfires
title_full Exploring Pharmacists’ Roles during the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer Bushfires
title_fullStr Exploring Pharmacists’ Roles during the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer Bushfires
title_full_unstemmed Exploring Pharmacists’ Roles during the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer Bushfires
title_short Exploring Pharmacists’ Roles during the 2019–2020 Australian Black Summer Bushfires
title_sort exploring pharmacists’ roles during the 2019–2020 australian black summer bushfires
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8396331/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34449721
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9030142
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