Development and evaluation of an elective course of pharmacist's roles in disaster management in France.

Marc Montana,Pascal Rathelot,Fanny Mathias,Patrice Vanelle,Jérôme Lacroix

doi:10.3352/jeehp.2019.16.19

Abstract

PurposeTo describe our experiences with the development of an elective course on the pharmacist’s role in disaster management for third-year pharmacy students and to evaluate its effects on students’ knowledge and their perceptions of the introduction of this course into the curriculum.MethodsAn expert team of physicians, surgeons, and pharmacists of the Service de Santé des Armées, pharmacists teaching at the Faculty of Pharmacy, and pharmacists from the Bataillon des Marins Pompiers de Marseille developed a program consisting of 30 hours of modules on disaster response training based on previously published recommendations, a literature analysis, and international guidelines. Students’ knowledge of key competencies was assessed after some teaching sessions through a multiple-choice quiz. Students’ self-perceived knowledge, perceptions of teaching quality, and degree of satisfaction were evaluated through a voluntary survey after the last teaching session on November 15.ResultsThe final curriculum consisted of 6 modules. Students’ knowledge of key competencies was assessed using multiple-choice quizzes, with a mean score of 19 of 25. Almost all students (98.3%) reported that this training program improved their knowledge of the pharmacist’s role in disaster management, and 79.3% stated that they would recommend this optional course.ConclusionThis training course demonstrated the potential to increase the number of pharmacists prepared to respond to disasters. It also expanded students’ understanding of the pharmacist’s role and stimulated their interest in emergency preparedness. Further refinement of the program, including a simulation of mass triage in an emergency setting, will be conducted next year.

Highlights

This study describes the experiences of the Faculty of Pharmacy of Marseille with the development of an elective course on the pharmacist’s role in disaster management and presents an evaluation of the effects of this new teaching module on pharmacy students’ knowledge of disaster response
Terrorism, man-made disaster, and environmental threats were considered within the framework of the legal environment and regulations for civil protection and disaster preparedness
The functional roles and responsibilities assumed by the Santé des Armées (SSA) and by other authorities involved in crisis management were identified as key competencies

Summary

Introduction

Ed that a knowledge of disaster medicine would be helpful in their future career [3]. Pharmacists can make many contributions in a variety of emergencies and during a disaster response, their specific role is not well defined [4,5]. With the increasing risk of mass casualty events, pharmacists may function as first-line responders in case of man-made disasters or as second-line responders caring for victims in health-system or community settings [4]. While many pharmacy schools may already be involved with disaster preparedness planning at the local level, there are very few articles on the inclusion of mass casualty education within the undergraduate pharmacy curriculum [6,7]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion