Point of Dispensing during Disasters

Point of Dispensing during Disasters

Assignment E - Case

Introduction

This paper highlights the significance of point of dispensing (POD) within the incidence command center. The first section of this paper presents information about the operations and functions of POD. The second section of this paper is an SLP project that describes operations undertaken to address disaster management and the use of PODs along with ICS, keeping in view the needs of the patients living in calamity-hit areas. A Point of Dispensing (POD) is the location at which medical countermeasures are distributed to the population. The CRI program offers extensive guidelines for the development of PODs in areas where emergency drug teams need to have urgent and durable access to patients. There are about 3500 PODs currently operational in different areas of the United States of America. The POD working in Rhode Island provides the best example for a working POD - providing adequate facilities for distributors to carry out their tasks in an efficient manner (www.naccho.org).

In America, most of the PODs cater to the needs of patients suffering from anthrax. Other scenarios, including exposures/diseases where vaccination or an epidemiologic investigation is necessary, may require more comprehensive medical screening and paperwork.

In America, different States need to follow the POD standards to guide state and local planners in their efforts to select POD locations, design a flow, set up stations and to recommend appropriate staffing. The RAND Corporation, under contract with the CDC, also plays an important role in the development of POD recommendations (http://training.fema.gov).

Guidelines for patient flow through the PODs, as well as staff areas, are constantly being reworked for individual facilities in order to maximize throughput and minimize bottlenecks to allow for the efficient provision of drugs for infectious diseases (www.sedgwickcounty.org).

Most CRI PODs follow an express/primary dispensing and assisted/secondary dispensing model, where individuals with straightforward medical histories, no contraindications for doxycycline and no need for a medical consultation move quickly through the express line to get doxycycline. Individuals for whom ciprofloxacin is indicated or who have questions are referred to the assisted dispensing line.

Dispensing

Dispensing caters to the distribution of drugs and vaccines to patients, suffering from infectious diseases. There are different methods of dispensing drugs, including dispensing through a Point of Dispensing. The primary function of a POD is to facilitate patients get access to drugs in areas where they are not available. That is why; one can find a large number of PODs in areas severely hit by a natural calamity or by an epidemic - such as influenza. Mobile dispensing units have a vital role to play when it comes to reaching out for patients, living in farther areas. States like Rhode Island and New Orleans have a well-structured dispensing infrastructure to help provide patients with readily available knowledge regarding the health status of victims of disasters (www.naccho.org).

Distributing or administering medical or non-medical countermeasures following a disaster

Distribution and management of counter-measures in the wake of disaster is a very demanding ...