Be prepared if disaster should strike your pharmacy. Below are suggestions of some things you can do to prepare for disasters.
- Visit www.ready.gov/business to help you prepare for the most likely disasters with toolkits.
- Consider investing in a backup generator in case of power loss or bring cold items to a place that has a generator.
- Establish procedures to communicate with staff to be sure all are safe and accounted for after a disaster.
- Be sure patient records and personal health information are stored and backed up in a secure cloud-based system.
- If the pharmacy is damaged, have back-up plans in place to operate off-site, such as a trailer or curbside service.
- Work with your technology vendor to secure internet, printer, and fax capabilities. Know how to forward phone calls.
- Contact and communicate with your insurance company, wholesaler, state board of pharmacy, buying group, DEA (for controlled substances), local or state emergency management, and any other relevant organizations. The sooner the better.
- Be constantly alert and continuously check weather forecasts to help determine action plans.
- If you have a warning, communicate with patients and remind them to pick up refills so the will call bins are as empty as possible. Also, contact med sync patients who may run short on medications; this minimizes inventory loss and helps patients be more resilient.
- If possible, move medications (particularly controlled substances) off premises. If not, invest in strong safes that are bolted to the floor.
- Use social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) to post updates, news, physician locations, community services, and important information for patients.