Schneider, Sarah
(2022)
Development of a Pharmacy Point-of-Dispensing Toolkit for an Anthrax Exposure in Allegheny County Postal Workers.
Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh.
Abstract
Background
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Postal Service (USPS) consider anthrax to be a potential threat to U.S. Postal workers. Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) Pharmacy supports local USPS response in the event of an exposure. The ACHD Pharmacy team identified the need to review and update their response plan due to: updated clinical guidelines from the CDC, CDC Health Care Points-of-Dispensing planning resources, and lessons learned from the previous mass anthrax exposure incident in 2001.
Objectives
To develop a Pharmacy Point of Dispensing (POD) Toolkit that could be used for initial antibiotic mass dispensing operations in the event of an Anthrax exposure. 2) To describe the pharmacist's role in POD medical countermeasure planning.
Methods
The Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning Model guided the Toolkit development. The planning model consists of three phases.
• Phase 1 involved a needs assessment conducted by a series of stakeholder meetings from January 2022 to February 2022, a review of the current ACHD anthrax response plan, and past anthrax responses in 2001. Stakeholders identified were the ACHD Emergency Response team, ACHD Clinical teams, and ACHD's USPS contacts.
• Phase 2 involved developing strategies to address the needs identified in Phase 1 by reviewing other state health departments’ anthrax response strategies as well as collaborating with stakeholders identified in Phase 1.
• Phase 3 involved the development of the first draft of the Pharmacy Point-of-Dispensing Toolkit. The Toolkit contents were then shared with the Advisory Stakeholder Board for feedback.
Results
Several revisions have been made based on feedback. However, some feedback discussed will require future meetings and discussions with specific ACHD teams and personnel.
Discussion/Implications
Development of this Toolkit and response plan highlights pharmacist involvement in medical countermeasures planning and increased overall ACHD Pharmacy involvement in the planning and implementation of the public health response. The Toolkit was created with adaptability in mind. The content of this Toolkit can easily be adopted and revised for mass antibiotic dispensing due to Anthrax or other Category A bioterrorism agents such as Plague (Yersinia pestis) or Tularemia.
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Details
| Item Type: |
Other Thesis, Dissertation, or Long Paper
(Master Essay)
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| Contributors: |
| Contribution | Contributors Name | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Ha, Toan | toan.ha@pitt.edu | toan.ha | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | Carroll, Joni | joni.carroll@pitt.edu | joni.carroll | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | Frank, Linda | frankie@pitt.edu | frankie | UNSPECIFIED |
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| Date: |
12 May 2022 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Number of Pages: |
65 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Public Health > Infectious Diseases and Microbiology |
| Degree: |
MPH - Master of Public Health |
| Thesis Type: |
Master Essay |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Date Deposited: |
12 May 2022 17:36 |
| Last Modified: |
12 May 2022 17:36 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/42732 |
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