Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:25:33.473Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Preparedness of Pharmaceutical Services in Military Organizations: Learning from an Assessment in Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2019

Tatiana Holanda Pereira de Souza
Affiliation:
Graduate Program in Administration and Management of Pharmaceutical Services, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Elaine Silva Miranda*
Affiliation:
Graduate Program in Administration and Management of Pharmaceutical Services, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*
Correspondence: Elaine Silva Miranda Departamento de Farmácia e Administração Farmacêutica Faculdade de Farmácia Universidade Federal Fluminense Rua Dr. Mário Viana, 523 Santa Rosa, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro CEP 24241-000, Brazil E-mail: elainemiranda@id.uff.br

Abstract

Introduction:

The participation of armed forces in humanitarian operations and in disaster response is common in many countries. In Brazil, the armed forces have had history in providing health support to victims in emergencies, which also includes the provision of pharmaceutical services (PS).

Problem:

Even though being essential for the provision of health care in disaster response, the preparedness of PS is not well-addressed in the literature. The use of a comprehensive approach to evaluate preparedness of PS in military institutions may subsidize preparedness measures. The goals of this work were to analyze the preparedness of PS for disaster response and humanitarian aid in military units of a Brazilian armed force institution, and to propose a framework to improve the preparedness of PS in operational medicine.

Methods:

An investigation of a cross-sectional design was performed. A logic model and indicators to evaluate preparedness of PS were applied. Data were obtained from official documents, interviews with key stakeholders, and observation of good storage practices (GSP).

Results:

Identified were: lack of specific budget for medicine procurement in case of disaster, absence of emergency stockpile, proper means for medicine transportation, and records of trained health professionals. An emergency plan, a list of selected medicines, adaptable mobile health care units, and a system for mobilization of health professionals were some of the positive aspects recognized. Different aspects for improvement were acknowledged and recommendations to favor the efficiency and the quality of PS in emergencies were proposed.

Conclusions:

The investigation provided valuable results for the planning and execution of responses to disasters and humanitarian aid. The findings and proposed recommendations may be useful for other military organizations similar to those in Brazil.

Type
Original Research
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Quarantelli, EL, (ed). What is a Disaster? Perspectives on the Question. New York USA: Routledge; 1998.Google Scholar
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. The Human Cost of Weather-Related Disasters 1995-2015. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/COP21_WeatherDisastersReport_2015_FINAL.pdf. Published 2015. Accessed June 1, 2018.Google Scholar
Schächinger, U, Nerlich, M.Disaster medical response concerns us all. Internist (Berl). 2005;46(9):10141020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giorgadze, T, Maisuradze, I, Japaridze, A, et al. Disasters and their consequences for public health. Georgian Med News. 2011;194:5963.Google Scholar
Miranda, ES.Assistência Farmacêutica em Desastres. In: Osorio-de-Castro, CGS, Luiza, VL, Castilho, SR, et al, (eds). Assistência Farmacêutica: Gestão e Prática Para Profissionais de Saúde. 1st ed. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Editora Fiocruz; 2014:381390.Google Scholar
Heaslip, G, Sharif, AM, Althonayan, A.Employing a systems-based perspective to the identification of inter-relationships within humanitarian logistics. Int J Prod Econ. 2012;139(2):377392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Apte, A.Humanitarian logistics: a new field of research and action. Foundations and Trends in Technology in Information and Operations Management. 2009;3(1):1100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahmood, M, Riley, K, Bennett, D, et al. The supply of pharmaceuticals in humanitarian assistance missions: implications for military operations. Mil Med. 2011;176(8):852857.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erlich, T, Shinal, A, Segall, D, et al. Preparation of medical personnel for an early response humanitarian mission – lessons learned from the Israeli defense forces field hospital in the Philippines. Disaster Mil Med. 2015;1:5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, RJ.Toward a US Army Pacific (USARPAC) rapid deployment medical component in support of Human Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) operations: challenges with “Going in Light.” Disaster Mil Med. 2016;2:15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brasil. Ministério da Defesa. Hospital de Campanha da FAB retorna após atender 24 mil haitianos. http://www.defesa.gov.br/index.php/noticias/3389-28-05-2010-defesa-hospital-de-campanha-da-fab-retorna-apos-atender-24-mil-haitianos. Accessed July 11, 2018.Google Scholar
Brasil. Exército Brasileiro. Hospital de Campanha totaliza mais de 3 mil atendimentos. http://www.eb.mil.br/web/noticias/noticiario-do-exercito/-/asset_publisher/MjaG93KcunQI/content/hospital-de-campanha-totaliza-mais-de-3-mil-atendimentos. Accessed July 11, 2018.Google Scholar
Pinto, FCS. Hospital de Campanha da Marinha no Chile. Marinha em Revista. 2010;2:4–8. http://www.mar.mil.br/hotsites/marinhaemrevista/anteriores_pdf/agosto_2010.pdf. Accessed July 13, 2018.Google Scholar
Miranda, ES, Fitzgerald, JF, Osorio-de-Castro CGS. A methodological approach for the evaluation of preparedness of pharmaceutical services. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2013;34(4):312320.Google Scholar
Pimenta-de-Souza, P, Miranda, ES, Osorio-de-Castro CGS. Preparação da assistência farmacêutica para desastres: um estudo em cinco municípios brasileiros. Cien Saude Colet. 2014;19(9):37313742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization. Emergency Response Framework. 2nd ed. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2017.Google Scholar
Sphere Association. The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. 4th ed. Geneva, Switzerland: Sphere; 2018.Google Scholar
Bardin, L.Análise de conteúdo. Trad. Luís Antero Neto e Augusto Pinheiro. São Paulo, Brazil: Edições 70; 2011.Google Scholar
Brasil. Lei nº 8666, de 21 de junho de 1993: Regulamenta o art. 37, inciso XXI, da Constituição Federal, institui normas para licitações e contratos da Administração Pública e dá outras providências. Brasília: 1993.Google Scholar
McCabe, OL, Barnett, DJ, Taylor, HG. Ready, willing, and able: a framework for improving the public health emergency preparedness system. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2010;4(2):161168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization. Guidelines for Medicine Donations. 3rd ed. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2011.Google Scholar
Abubakar, I, Zumla, A.Universal health coverage for refugees and migrants in the twenty-first century. BMC Med. 2018;16:216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brasil. Lei Complementar nº 97, de 9 de junho de 1999: Dispõe sobre as normasgerais para a organização, o preparo e o emprego das Forças Armadas. Brasília: 1999.Google Scholar
Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Portaria nº 2.365, de 18 de outubro de 2012: Define a composição do kit de medicamentos e insumos estratégicos a ser encaminhado peloMinistério da Saúde para a assistência farmacêutica às Unidades da Federação atingidaspor desastres de origem natural associados a chuvas, ventos e granizo e define osrespectivos fluxos de solicitação e envio. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde; 2012.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. Standard emergency health kits. https://www.who.int/emergencies/kits/en/. Accessed January 5, 2019.Google Scholar
Britto, EA.Aquisição de medicamentos pela administração pública: judicialização e controle pelo Tribunal de Contas. Rev TCEMG. 2015;33(1):3161.Google Scholar
El Sayed, M, Tamim, H, Mann, NC.Description of medication administration by Emergency Medical Services during mass-casualty incidents in the United States.Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(2):141149.Google Scholar
Osorio-de-Castro, CGS, Luiza, VL, Castilho, SR, et al, (eds). Assistência Farmacêutica: Gestão e Prática Para Profissionais de Saúde. 1st ed. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Editora Fiocruz; 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolinskaya, I, Besiou, M, Guerrero-Garcia, S.Humanitarian medical supply chain in disaster response. Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management. 2018;8(2):199226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, SRA, Bandeira, RAM, Campos, VBG, et al. Cadeia de suprimentos humanitária: uma análise dos processos de atuação em desastres naturais. Production. 2015;25(4):876893.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Guía de la OMS y la OPS para el uso de hospitales de campaña extranjeros en caso de desastres. Washington, DC USA: OPS; 2003.Google Scholar
International Pharmaceutical Federation. Responding to Disasters: Guidelines for Pharmacy. The Hague, Netherlands: FIP; 2017.Google Scholar
Brasil. Ministério da Defesa. Defesa prepara militares e civis para resposta médica a desastres. https://www.defesa.gov.br/noticias/46860-defesa-prepara-militares-ecivis-para-resposta-m%C3%A9dica-a-desastres. Published 2018. Accessed October 10, 2018.Google Scholar
Alkhalili, M, Ma, J, Grenier, S. Defining roles for pharmacy personnel in disasterresponse and emergency preparedness. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2017;11(4):496504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vardanyan, H, Mosegui, GBG, Miranda, ES.Skills and core competencies of pharmacists in humanitarian assistance. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(3):266272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brasil. Ministério da Defesa. Doutrina de Mobilização Militar. Brasília: Ministério da Defesa; 2015.Google Scholar