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By Jill
Holder
UK and U of L
faculty will join other pharmacists from around the nation to
discuss counter-terrorism responses to potential threats at
the 2002 National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and the
American Association of College of Pharmacy District III
Annual Meeting Aug. 4-6 in Louisville.
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Aug. 2, 2002 (Lexington, Ky.) -- University of Kentucky
College of Pharmacy faculty members, along with University
of Louisville Hospital and other Kentucky hospitals, are
joining the fight against terrorism.
UK and U of L
faculty will join other pharmacists from around the nation to
discuss counter-terrorism responses to potential threats at
the 2002 National Association
of Boards of Pharmacy and the American Association of
College of Pharmacy District III Annual Meeting Aug. 4-6 in
Louisville. UK College of Pharmacy and the Kentucky Board
of Pharmacy will sponsor the three-day program.
“We will bring
issues to the board and discuss command units and what
pharmacists would do in certain scenarios,” John Armitstead,
director of pharmacy services at UK
Hospital and assistant dean for Medical Center pharmacy
services at the College of Pharmacy.
The events of
Sept. 11, 2001, and anthrax exposures have prompted the health
care community to evaluate emergency procedu res.
“In the event of
mass exposures or injuries, pharmacists would have to
distribute large quantities of vaccines, antidotes and other
medication, as well as care for casualties,” Armitstead said.
Additionally, a
large number of people may not be able to travel to a hospital
or other health care facility. Pharmacists would be
active in the mass distribution of medicine. The
nation’s pharmacists would have to make sure they had the
equipment necessary to offset the effects of nerve agents,
biological pathogens and chemical agents.
Pharmacists would
work with the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention National Pharmaceutical
Stockpile Program to secure large quantities of medicinal
supplies and quickly distribute them to the public.
“We are involved
in implementing plausible counter-terrorism plans for
incidence and response,” Armitstead said. Armitstead
will discuss emergency pharmacy response plan development at
the meeting.
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